Only 3 more cookies to bake for my 12 days of cookies 2018.  Cookie no. 9 is a riff on my go-to thumbprint cookie.  I decided to use toasted hazelnuts in place of walnuts.  Ok, not earth-shattering but enough of a twist that the hubster noticed (he is a thumbprint afficionado) and loved the nuanced change. The hazelnut MO?  More assertive than other nuts such as almonds or pecans, buttery and sweet.  It’s flavor shines in these thumbprint cookies. I filled the center with a berry-lime jam I had made at the end of summer and added a tease of vanilla to the dough to complement the jam.  Yummy!

Measure the amount of  nuts needed before grinding them.  You want the nuts to be finely ground but not to the point  where it starts to get pasty.

Take out your trusty ice cream/cookie scoop. I use a tablespoon scoop and line up the cookie dough balls, assembly line mentality, on a sheet.  Place dough balls on a cookie sheet approximately 1.5-2 inches apart. Press each one to flatten to 1/4-3/8 inch thick (thicker if larger).  Use the end of a wooden spoon or utensil of similar size, to create a depression in the center of each cookie.  I use a hand blender to puree my jam (no fruit lumps!) and a squeeze bottle to squirt the jam into the center of each cookie. How easy is that?

This turned out to be a delish version of thumbprint cookies.  Perfect during the holidays and especially nice with a bit of the bubbly to bring in the new year!

Print Pin

Riff on Thumbprint Cookies

Course cookies

Cuisine American

Keyword thumbprints

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts
• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup seedless berry-lime preserves or your choice
• Dash of salt
• Powdered sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop nuts in food processor until very fine. Beat butter, nuts, salt and granulated sugar in mixer bowl until light. Beat in flour into blended.
• Shape dough into 1 inch balls.
• Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and flatten to 1 1/2 inch circle.
• Press into centers with a fingertip.
• Fill each indentation with 1/4 teaspoon preserves.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden.
• Cool.
• Sift confectioner's sugar over cookies.

Notes

Substitute your favorite jam, I plan to use a pineapple-orange jam for the next batch.