Thumbprint Cookies

These little cookies are a shortbread type of cookie rolled int chopped nuts with a dollop of jam in the middle! My sister bakes these often & has been known to box them up and being them with her when she comes to visit us from California!

A friend of mine asked me a question about the thumbprint in Thumbprint Cookies…it pops up during baking and what to do about it. So I decided it was best to try it out and see. I found a recipe in my ‘recipe binder’. The directions say to bake the cookies for 5 minutes then remove from the oven and re-indent them with your thumb. There is the answer. I made them and the indent is perfect.

This dough is crumbly and needed to be shaped and formed. They cracked when I imprinted it so I had to put it together. After 5 minutes of baking I took them out of the oven, flattened them a bit and re-poked the hole.

You can use any flavor of jam you like!

Here is the recipe

Swedish Pastry (Thumbprint Cookies)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened *** if your butter is cold, cut it into small pieces to soften quicker

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 egg, divided  *** lightly beat the yolk  *** beat the white until frothy with a fork and put into a bowl to roll the cookies in before baking

1 cup flour

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts *** put into a bowl to roll the cookies in before baking

Jam to fill the thumbprint   I used a home-made grape jelly

Method 

Preheat oven to 350F     Yield with a 1 tbsp cookie scoop is 16 cookies

*** this recipe can be made in the food processor, by hand if the butter is soft enough or in a small bowl of a mix master

1. Cream the softened butter and the brown sugar together
2. Add the beaten egg yolk and mix well
3. Add the flour, mix thoroughly … the dough is crumbly
4. Make dough into balls, I used a tablespoon cookie scoop. press it together to form a ballTake the ball of dough, coat in the egg white and roll in the crushed walnuts
5. Place on a cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. These cookies do not spread
6. Push your thumb/finger into the middle of the cookie, gently..if the cookie splits just put it back together
7. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven  AND POKE YOUR THUMB/FINGER INTO THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE TO MAKE THE INDENT AGAIN…..RETURN TO THE OVEN AND CONTINUE BAKING FOR 10 MINUTES,,, UNTIL BROWNED
8. While the cookie is hot, put some jam/jelly of your choice into the indent
9. Cool on a wire rack

Enjoy!