Strawberry and Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

I am one of those people that loves to take simple recipes and make them gourmet (or at least I think so). Have you ever had those great Pepperidge Farm (I believe they’re called Verona) thumbprint cookies? You know, those cookies that come in a white bag?

Yeah, those…

Well, I have a recipe that will have you stop getting those delicious Pepperidge Farm Cookies (Maybe).

I was a bit hesitant to put this recipe’s photo up because it looks horrible. My camera is half-broken, so I have to save up until I can get a new one…

Anyway, back to the cookies… I used seedless raspberry jam and strawberry preserves, but you can also use apricot preserves…

Strawberry and Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Makes: About 3 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS:
Raspberry jam (seedless)
Strawberry preserves
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I like to refer to this as A.P.F)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1 cup of sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

PREPARATION:

The Dough:
Whisk (or sift, if you’d like) the A.P.F and salt together. Cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until the mixture is fluffy and very pale. Then beat in the vanilla and the egg. At a low setting on your mixture, add the A.P.F in three additions, just until a dough actually forms (if you over mix, you’ll end up with a tough cookie). Separate the dough into two equal pieces, and form them each into 6 inch disks, then wrap them in plastic wrap, and chill them in the refrigerator for about an hour (or until the dough has firmed-up).

The Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350ºF (remember to place the oven rack in the middle). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (don’t use waxed paper).

Take the dough out of your refrigerator (if you haven’t done so already) and get out a tablespoon, or a small ice-cream scoop (one that can give you about a tablespoon of cookie dough). If you are using a regular tablespoon, form the dough into balls. Place the balls of cookie dough on the baking sheets (lined with parchment paper) about an inch apart.

Make an indentation going through 3/4 of the cookie (you can use a wooden spoon handle, your thumb, or the rounded bottom of a measuring spoon).

Fill the indentations in each cookie with jam (I used a piping bag for this part), making sure that you avoid any pieces of fruit (in this case, strawberries).

Bake until the cookies are golden-brown along the edges (about 15 – 20 minutes).

Cool the cookies on baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then move them over to cooling racks to cool completely.