Thumbprint Cookies

Okay … This is probably the most serious post I will ever make. I have been debating back and forth in my mind whether or not to share this recipe with the cyberworld, because I love being the only person I know who has it! It is my absolute favorite recipe. For anything. Ever.

I have been making them since I was literally four years old (maybe even longer, but I remember helping with them at four). I have never missed a Christmas season baking them. Each year, my sister Laura made candy cane bread, Denise made cheesecake bites, Linda made cinnamon twists, Kim made pretzel cookies, and I made these.

To this point, I have never tasted anyone elses’ thumbprint cookies that come close to as good as these. For real. And I am not usually one to say that something I made is hands-down the best, but these cookies freaking rock. The recipe originally came from some random old calendar my father has, and it doesn’t need alteration (except for doubling the recipe, which I’ve already done for you here).

The secret to these cookies is that they use brown sugar instead of white. Yep, that’s it. No crazy ingredients, nothing fancy. Just brown sugar. It makes for a caramelized undertone that, when paired with quality jam, leaves nothing to be desired.

So, I present to you …

The Best Thumbprint Cookies You Will Ever Taste In Your Entire Life
or, Asshole Cookies, as my best friend affectionately calls them.

Ingredients:

Don't skimp on the quality of jam here, it's the star of the show!

• 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• seedless preserves or jam (I made half the batch with Jett’s Natural Produce Peach Butter and half with Jumbars Jumbleberry Jam)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl.
2. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
3. Add flour and salt. Mix well.
   

   Dough before chilling

4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place 1″ apart on lightly greased or parchment covered cookie sheet.
   

   Dough Balls

7. Gently press thumb into center of each cookie to form depression in dough.
   

   Thumbprinted

8. Fill depression with small spoonful of preserves or jam.
   

   Jam Filled

9. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.
10. Cool on racks.
    

    Tell me these aren't the best thumbprint cookies you've ever eaten.

 

Taking a Break!

This is basically a picture of my kitchen last night, trying to coat & package over 100 truffles.

This week, in order to bring our homemade Christmas to fruition, I am taking a week off from blogging! There are still coloring books to draw, caramels to package, lots of gifts to wrap and a couple of errands to run, so I’ll be focusing my efforts on getting everything done by next weekend!

What do you have to look forward to when I return next Monday? Well, here’s a sampling of what I hope to post next week:

• A cookie blow out including pumpkin chocolate chip, honey herb, peanut butter and my can’t-live-without-them thumbprint cookies
• Candies! Truffles & beer-pretzel caramels!
• Homemade herb salt
• Homemade sugar scrup
• A guide to handmade gifts for any occasion you might have coming up
• and more …

So, whoever may be reading this, I wish you merriment as this holiday season kicks into high gear, and I’ll see you Monday!

Help Irie Feel Irie Again!

Irie is our cat. We adopted her seven years ago, on a whim, after we saw an ad for her in the newspaper and discovered she lived around the corner from us. She is one of the most chilled out cats you will ever meet, which really fits with the meaning of her name:

IRIE
(I-rie \I ‘ -ree\ adj)
1: To be at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries. 2: Powerful and pleasing 3: Excellent, highest 4: The state of feeling great. 5: IRIE stands for I Respect I Eternally. Meaning you have respect for yourself; being happy with who you are. 6: To be at peace and harmony with your self and the status quo of your existence. 7: Jamaican term for everything is good, higher self, serenity 8: To be happy, to be high, most commonly used by Jamaicans.

Irie is now fourteen years old, which is not young, but she should still have a few good years left in her. Unfortunately, Irie hasn’t been feeling very irie lately—Her appetite is small, she is limping … She’s just not feeling up to par. We’ve spent a decent chunk of our budget trying to figure out what is wrong with her, and the vet finally decided she has awful arthritis and needs to be on steroids and pain meds. They seem to be working, but Irie has racked up quite a vet bill.

This is where you can really easily help! The vet is having a holiday photo contest on Facebook. All you have to do is like the photo on the Facebook page, and Irie has a chance of winning a $50 gift certificate to the office!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR IRIE BY LIKING THE PHOTO!

Irie's hopefully winning photo for the vet's contest!