At times, I fear that I give the wrong impression. I put up lots of good things, including jar after jar of jam and fruit butter. But think beyond toast – these jars of fruity goodness are good for much more. Open jars flavor ice cream, smoothies, and cake frostings; spike salad dressings or cocktails; bring interest to pancakes and oatmeal; turn into awesome sauces. Thumbprint cookies with jam are a case in point: I used what I had on hand to make the best vividly flavored cookies ever.
These cookies use whatever open jars you have on hand to take simple sugar cookies over the top. These are excellent any time, and make a gift people love. Take a good sugar cookie recipe, roll the dough into balls, then hollow out a little crater with your thumb or a spoon. Fill the center with the jam of your choice, and bake into delicious little bites.
make the cookie dough
Cream the butter: beat it in a mixer for about 30 seconds, until it turns a pale yellow color. Scrape it down from the sides of the bowl, add the sugar, and beat again about 2 minutes, until it is soft and almost white. Scrape the bowl again. Add eggs and both extracts. Beat at medium speed about 30 seconds, until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. Stop and scrape again.
Add the flour and mix on low speed about 30 seconds. Scrape bowl again. Mix a little more, until the dough sticks together and there are no streaks of unblended flour.
chill dough
Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. To make well ahead, the dough may be refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for several months.
form and bake the cookies
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Roll the dough into balls a little bigger than an inch in diameter, or use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to form them. Put the balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment-paper lined cookies sheet, and press a crater into each one. Drop a bit of jam into each indentation.
Bake 10-13 min, until the cookies are just beginning to brown. Let cool on a rack – the cookies are fragile and bendable until they are fully cool.
NOTE: thumbprint cookies with jam recipe may be doubled with no alteration.
Thumbprint Cookies with Jam
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Cream the butter: beat it in a mixer for about 30 seconds, until it turns a pale yellow color. Scrape it down from the sides of the bowl, add the sugar, and beat again about 2 minutes, until it is soft and almost white. Scrape the bowl again. Add eggs and both extracts. Beat at medium speed about 30 seconds, until it has the consistency of mashed potatoes. Stop and scrape again.
- Add the flour and mix on low speed about 30 seconds. Scrape bowl again. Mix a little more, until the dough sticks together and there are no streaks of unblended flour.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. To make well ahead, the dough may be refrigerated for up to four days or frozen for several months.
AT BAKING TIME
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Roll the dough into balls a little bigger than an inch in diameter, or use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to form them. Put the balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment-paper lined cookies sheet, and press a crater into each one. Drop a bit of jam into each indentation.
- Bake 10-13 min, until the cookies are just beginning to brown. Let cool on a rack – the cookies are fragile and bendable until they are fully cool.