Days of Christmas: Thumb print cookies

When I started digging out recipes for cookies, I found two that I was really excited for. Both involved rolling out very small portions of the cookie dough, refrigeration and other what nots for prep. I may have been able to get them all done if not for some time lost to an extra shift at work and some errand running prolonged by rainy weather.

These thumb print cookies were the ones to take the fall. They were originally meant to be trios: smaller cookies linked in threes, each with a different preserve filling. They were to  look sort of like Mickey Mouse heads.

Rolling out many, many teaspoon sized balls of dough, poking a small hole in them, and filling each with 1/88th teaspoon of preserves lost it's mystique for me on Sunday afternoon. Time of death round about 2:00 PM PST.


I still had the dough of course, I just went ahead with a normal sized cookie scoop for far less work on my part.

Your preserve fillings can be any flavor you want, I went with apricot, strawberry and blueberry. I would have thrown in a blackberry if I'd have ditched the tiny cookie thing earlier on. these are my new addiction now, they cookie is tender and buttery. My husband and brother were the early testers and both proclaimed them fabulous. Just give them a few minutes to cool, the preserve filling get molten hot, my brother learned this when he popped a whole cookie in his mouth fresh from the oven. I don't think he'll do that again.

Thumb Print Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Blueberry preserves
Apricot preserves
Strawberry preserves

Equipment: a 1/2-inch-thick wooden spoon handle or dowel

Preparation

Make dough:
Whisk together flour and salt. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until very pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes, then beat in egg and vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half and form each piece into a 6-inch disk, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
Assemble and bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Once dough has chilled, remove from fridge and roll about a tablespoon of dough at a time, flattening slightly. With end of spoon or dowel, make an indentation for the fruit preserves and fill with 1/4 teaspoon of fruit preserves. Place on a parchement or silpat lined cookie sheet.
Bake until cookies are baked through and golden-brown on edges, about 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Bake more batches on cooled baking sheets lined with fresh parchment or reuse your silpats if you have them.