Thumbprint Cookies

This recipe comes to you by request of one of my faithful readers (read: friends). So keep that in mind. If there's something you want me to make, do not hesitate to make a request. I will try my best to make it no matter how exotic or random.

Every April, Charlottesville is home to a horse race --rain or shine. Everyone at UVa goes. No one sees a horse. You just tailgate in a hot field all day long and wander from plot to plot eating and drinking until it's time to hop on the charter bus and head back to campus. It is quite the spectacle, and I have yet to experience anything like it anywhere else. Chaos always ensues, and inevitably, someone (more like 200+ someones) get arrested and have a video trial with the judge.

But that's not why we are here. We are here for the cookies. The first time I had these cookies was first year at Foxfield. We stumbled upon a plot that belonged to a family friend of a good friend of mine. They had these cookies, but some had pecans and instead of jam, they were filled with orange or blue icing. They. Were. Magnificent.

Second year, my roommates and I really wanted to bake something, but we had very limited resources. Chances are, it was a very odd hour to begin with, so a trip to the grocery probably wasn't the best idea anyway. As you can tell, these cookies do not require much. We found a recipe for thumbprint cookies in my friend's hometown cookbook. They. Were. Magnificent. Again.

One of those roommates requested that I make these cookies for the blog, and it just so happened that I needed to bake something for the wonderful person who has outfitted my herb garden this spring. These cookies did the trick.

There are recipes with pecans in the cookie part or with the cookie rolled in pecans, but I took the simple route sans pecans.

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 t vanilla
1 t lemon zest or juice (zest is preferable, but I didn't have a fresh lemon on hand--don't judge)
1 c flour
1/8 t salt
jam, your preference (I love apricot, strawberry, or seedless blackberry)

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour and salt. Cream the butter and sugar for a couple of minutes. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon. Add the dry ingredients. If the dough feels too wet, add flour a tablespoon at a time. You may want to refrigerate the batter for an hour or so. You want it to be able to form nice little balls.

Use a small ice cream scoop or a spoon to dip the batter. Roll it between your hands to form a tight ball. Place it on the cookie sheet about an inch and a half from other dough balls. Take your thumb and make an indention in each cookie. Fill each dent with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of jam.

I LOVE these preserves from Trader Joe's!

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. The cookies will not really change color, so it's hard to tell when they are done. Use your best judgment, but once they seem firm to the touch/don't look like dough. They're safe to take out. Let them cool for a minute on the tray and then transfer to a cooling rack until they reach room temperature.

Before.

After. See, not much difference!

Don't forget to send your requests!