Butter and Jam Thumbprints
One of my all time favorite cookies. I made a couple batches of these and I even filled some of them with Almond filling instead of the jam.
One of my all time favorite cookies. I made a couple batches of these and I even filled some of them with Almond filling instead of the jam.
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup sugar plus more for rolling
- 1/2 each vanilla bean seeds scraped from pod, or 1/8 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1
- 1/3 cup raspberry cherry or strawberry jam
- Carbohydrate 40.7294785714286 g
- Cholesterol 41.2526785714286 mg
- Fat 10.3891535714286 g
- Fiber 0.612560721741191 g
- Protein 2.13327142857143 g
- Saturated Fat 6.38201321428571 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (63g)
- Sodium 369.532428571429 mg
- Sugar 40.1169178496874 g
- Trans Fat 0.805643928571427 g
- Calories 260 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
- In another bowl, whip the butter and the sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just until incorporated.
- Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls with a cookie or ice cream scoop and roll in sugar. Place about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a thumbprint into the center of each ball, about 1/2-inch deep. Fill each indentation with about 3/4 teaspoon jam.
- Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes. (For even color, rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking.) Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Serve.
- Store cookies in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days.
Standard ingredient lists omit how temperature control dictates structural integrity in butter-rich doughs. Unsalted butter must remain truly softened at sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit before mixing, or the emulsion breaks when the egg is introduced. Creaming butter and sugar for a full five minutes incorporates microscopic air cells. These cells expand during baking to yield a tender crumb rather than a dense, heavy round. Adding dry ingredients in two separate additions prevents gluten overdevelopment, keeping the final crumb fragile. Rolling the portioned dough balls in granulated sugar before indentation creates an exterior crust. This exterior crunch contrasts sharply against the soft interior center. Fruit jam contains pectin and sugar that undergo thermal reformation in the oven. The fruit sugars caramelize slightly at the edges while the center thickens into a glossy pool. Leftover cookies demand proper environmental control to maintain textural contrast. Storing baked thumbprints in an airtight container for up to five days preserves the crisp exterior. Humidity softens the outer sugar coating rapidly, transforming the texture from crumbly to damp. Layering parchment between stacked tiers prevents the sticky jam centers from adhering to adjacent bases. Cooled leftovers actually improve on the second day. The butter fats fully migrate through the flour matrix overnight, homogenizing the crumb structure. Microwaving leftovers is discouraged because heat liquifies the jam and destroys the shortbread bite. Pairing aged cookies with strong black coffee cuts through the residual sweetness of the fruit preserve.
