Thumbprint Jam Cookies

Today I made thumbprint cookies using a recipe from Stonewall Kitchen.  I love visiting the store in York Maine when we are up there--or is it down there?  Stonewall Kitchen is  one of those stores that has a LOT of free samples.  

Here is the recipe for the cookies--with my additions:

Ingredients:

1 cup  unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup very finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup on jelly   Stonewall Kitchen recommends their specialty preserves:  I used their Wild Maine Blueberry Jam for the batch in the picture.  


Directions:


1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (Even though they say this--don't do it now.  You will see why later.)  Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.  I used parchment paper and it saves a lot of clean up on the cookie sheet.

2.  Cream butter using a mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed.  If you are like me and you do not have that attachment, just use a mixer.  Add sugar and beat until smooth.  Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla one at a time, mix until incorporated.  I don't think that this is a legal issue;  I think they just mean to mix it really good.  

3.  Combine flour, salt and ground walnuts in a separate bowl and whisk until uniform.  Slowly add flour mixture to the butter.  Mix until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Knead a few times, wrap in plastic or wax paper and chill dough for 1 hour.  Now you see why if your oven was pre-heating, it would be on for over an hour!  


4.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls.  I use an ice cream scoop that measures about an inch diameter across the top and that works well.  Then I squeeze the dough out of it, roll it in the palms of my hand and squish them so they are flat--no longer balls.  Then I made the indentation on the top with a round teaspoon and filled it with a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of jam.  Yow will see at least one cookie in my photo with a whole teaspoon and it  is too much.  


5.  Bake until edges are golden brown about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest for a minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.  


6.  Have a good book nearby to enjoy while the cookies are baking.  When they are ready to eat, have yourself a nice cup of tea or cold glass of milk.  


My thanks to Stonewall Kitchen for this recipe. If you are ever near York Maine, definitely visit their store--lots of good stuff including kitchen gadgets and a cooking school.