Jammin’ Thumbprint Cookies

This is not a cookie I’ve made every year, and I am not sure why, because I love them. In looking for a recipe I wanted to use this year, I realized that I could do a little tweaking to raise the ordinary jam thumbprint up to a new level. For instance, there seem to be two main schools of though on how to coat them before baking. You have either ground nuts or coconut. “Why not have both those flavors in there?”, I asked myself. And then there are a few methods for baking as well – are they better with the jam in the cookie from the start, inserted half way through the baking time or after the cookies are baked entirely? And why don’t you ever find any recipes for these that contain lemon zest? I ask you – What goes better with sweet fruity flavors than lemon zest? The answers to these deep, penetrating questions resulted in the the fabulous cookies you see here today. If I may make a friendly suggestion – include these babies in your Christmas baking this year. Having answers to life’s most intriguing puzzles can be a very satisfying thing.

To begin, cream together
1 cup soft butter
1 cup granulated sugar
Beat in
3 egg yolks [reserve whites]
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Mix in
2 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powderFinally, mix in
1/2 cup toasted coconut
Zest from half of a lemon – about 2 tablespoons
You can toast coconut in the oven, in a dry frying pan on a burner, or in the microwave. However you do it, you have to watch it carefully, or it will burn. You could use untoasted coconut I suppose, but when jam thumbprints are rolled in coconut, rather than nuts, it toasts nicely on the outside of the cookie and that is the flavor I wanted to incoporate, along with the toasted nuts on the outside.Chill the dough for an hour or so. If you chill it longer – and you certainly can – take it out of the fridge an hour or so before you are ready to bake them, as it will be too hard to work with comfortably otherwise. In an shallow bowl, lightly beat two of the reserved egg whites, saving the other for another use. In another shallow bowl, have 1 cup finely chopped walnuts. Use a small [2 teaspoon size] cookie scoop to portion the dough. Roll each cookie between your palms until it is uniformly round. Roll in the egg white, and then in the nuts, making sure to cover the entire outside with the nuts.Place a couple inches apart on a parchment lined, or greased baking sheet. Use the handle end of a wooden spoon to poke a deep dent into each cookie. I hold the forefinger and thumb of my other hand around each cookie while I am poking the hole. This helps prevent the edges from cracking, which would leave a way for the jam to run out. If one cracks a bit, just gently push it back together. Fill each hole with a small dollop of whatever jam you prefer. I did half of them cherry and half raspberry for this batch. Don’t overfill, because in the course of baking, the jam will bubble up quite a bit and if they are too full, it will run out. I prefer to put the jam in at the start, because I think it melds into the cookie better, and they will store better than if you add it later on. It is up to you though – if you decide to add it after baking, just make sure to gently press the dent back into the centers after baking.Bake for 15 – 16 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely on a wire rack. Use caution when tasting them right after baking – the jam will be very hotThese keep well and I think they are even bettter a few days later. Be prepared for the inevitable though – you will never be happy with your old recipe again!