Thumbprint Cookies

Besides stained glass cookies, this is another new cookie I baked this year for Christmas. I got the recipe from Just A Pinch Recipes. It’s quite simple, although I needed to add about 1/2 to 1 cup more flour because the dough was just too wet and sticky. I think the reason might be that I cheated on softening the butter– I use the quick microwave way to soften, and I warmed it up a bit too long. Anyway, lesson learned…

Some thumbprint cookie recipes suggest filling the jam on top of unbaked cookie dough, while others say add the jam after the cookies are baked. Well, I did the hybrid part– baked cookies, added jam, and baked for a few more minutes. I did this because I was hoping the extra baking time will dry out the jam a bit more, so the jam filling won’t be as thin runny and more on the thick sticky side. The results: No much difference. The main thing is the jam itself– I used pineapple preserve and raspberry jam. After final baking, while pineapple jam was still thick and nice in the thumbprint area, the raspberry jam was starting to overflow the edge of the cookies (it gave a smooth touch on the jam surface though). If you want a crunchier cookie texture, I suggest you bake the cookies and store in airtight container. Only add in the jam on the day of serving (you can add jam and bake a few more minutes if desired). Once the jam is filled, it will soften the cookies over time.

Thumbprint Cookies– Baked, waiting to be filled with jam.

Thumbprint Cookies Recipe (adapted from Just A Pinch. Makes about 30 cookies)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz) unsalted butter– softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, separated
1 1/2 cup flour– add more later if needed
4 tbsp dry whole milk powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking pan with parchment. Combine flour, milk powder and salt.
2. Cream butter with a hand mixer. Add sugar and cream until it’s fluffy. Mix in vanilla completely, then mix in egg yolk blend well.
3. Use a spatula to mix in flour mixture, in a stir-and press motion, until the it forms a dough. Roll the dough into thin long log of 1 inch diameter. Cut into pieces and roll each piece into a 1 inch diameter ball.
4. Whisk egg white in a bowl until it gets frothy. Place chopped hazelnut in a separate bowl.
5. Dip each dough ball into egg white, then roll it in chopped hazelnut to cover completely. Place the dough on baking pan, about 2 inches apart. Use your thumb to press down the ball to make a deep indentation.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven but maintain oven temperature. If the cookies lost its indentation then press down further with a spoon to make indentation deeper (do it while the cookies are still hot).
7. Place about 1/2 tsp of jam onto the indentation. Bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. When cookies are cooled completely, store in air tight container, adding parchment paper between each layer to prevent jam sticking together.

Regina’s Note:

• Besides chopped nuts, you can also roll cookies in shred coconuts, sugar or simply none at all.
• Don’t be limited by sweet jams. Jalapeno jam, cream cheese (flavored or plain) can also be used to create different flavors. Be adventurous!
• For crunchier thumbprint cookies, just bake the cookies itself without jam and store in air tight container. Only fill in the jam on the day of serving.

Thumbprint Cookies– I added some chili powder to some pineapple jam filled thumbprint cookies… looking for a sweet and spicy taste.

Thumbprint Cookies– I used pineapple jam and raspberry jam for the filling.

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Pineapple Melting Moments

I made this little cuties a while back but didn’t get to blog about it till now. I got the recipe from Corner Cafe, but mine are not as pretty as Corner Cafe as I had problem piping the dough, so I end up with a hamburger look instead :)… These little guys are so mini– they are the smallest cookies I have ever baked, which is good for our little ones at home because they can just pop one in the mouth without crumbs falling everywhere. Flavor– the cookies are very fluffy and buttery and really melt in the mouth (I can just eat them plain with a cup of tea), with the pineapple jam filling the cookies is sweet and tangy at the same time, much like pineapple tarts but without lots of work. Don’t have pineapple jam? Make it with raspberry jam, lemon curd, nutella etc… you name it. Cookies can be made ahead of time but put in the filling a few hours before serving, otherwise the cookies won’t be as crispy.

Pineapple Melting Moments

Pineapple Melting Moments (makes 120 mini cookies quarter dollar size, or 60 pairs). Recipe from Corner Cafe.

Ingredients:

(2 sticks) 250g butter, softened
(5-6 tbsp) 55g icing sugar mixture
1 teaspoon pineapple essence, or vanilla extract (optional)
(1 1/2 cup) 225g plain flour
(2/3 cup) 75g wheaten cornflour (wheat starch)

Filling: 60 portions of Pineapple jam rolled into size of small marble balls. Click here for pineapple jam recipe.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Sift plain flour and cornflour together and set aside.
2. Cream softened butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in pineapple essence if using. Add sifted flour mixture and stir through; mixing well.
3. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm star nozzle. Pipe 3cm-wide rosettes, about 3cm apart, onto oven trays. (I had problem piping the dough so I just divided the dough into 120 mini balls and use a fork to make impression on the top).
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until firm and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the oven trays.
5. When the biscuits are cold, sandwich a pair of biscuits with a ball of filling; pressing lightly to stick together. If you want to taste the initial crispiness of the biscuits, fill them only a few hours before serving, as after one day, the filled biscuits will begin to lose their initial crispiness as they start to absorb some of the moisture from the filling and will become softer but still melt-in-the-mouth.

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