The kids are home!  These cookies disappeared crazy fast (which makes me happy).  Who doesn’t like a buttery, crumbly, tender shortbread-like cookie with a hint of citrus and filled with sweet, tart jam? Bah humbug if that’s you!

Here is Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas to launch this post!

Bam, I LOVE Jam

I have a weakness for toast with butter and jam, PBJs and day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches with stuffing and cranberry jam.  Ok, so I’m cheating, it’s cranberry sauce but if it’s between slices of bread it’s jam to me.  My first-holiday cookie post highlighted Dorie Greenspan’s Jammers.  While they are worth the effort, there are times when you just need to bust out a batch of yummy cookies.  These thumbprint cookies fit the bill.  The recipe comes from Food Network, Emeril’s Holiday cookies.  Yes, THAT Emeril, BAM! Delicious cookie.  The original recipe calls for raspberry jam surrounded by a tender buttery cookie kicked up with lemon zest and juice.  Like many recipes, this one lends itself well to “alterations”.  I used orange zest and juice.   I’m sure just about any citrus juice and zest will work.   Dancing in my head?  Not sugarplums but visions of thumbprints made with lime + strawberry jam and lemon + blueberry jam .  Let me know if you come up with a winning combination.  Use your “jamagination”.

Jest Jammin’

The original recipe mixes liqueur with the jam, I skipped this step.  But a Chambord or Framboise would work well.  Just stir the liqueur, 1 tablespoon, into the jam before filling the cookies.  Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour before forming cookies.  Form the cookies, place them on a cookie sheet, and chill again for approximately 10 minutes so that the sheets are cold and the dough is firm.  This helps the cookie from spreading too much.  I used a 1-ounce ice cream scoop to measure out the dough.  I might make them a little smaller for holiday gift-giving.  The cookies did not need the full 20 minutes of baking time.  Start checking at 13-15 minutes.  They will brown quickly.

Print Pin

Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints

Bam! Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints adapted from Emeril!

Course cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Almond Cookies, emeril, jam, thumbprints

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Dry Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• 2 sticks 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest feel free to substitute orange zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Jam Finish

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam or jam of choice, anything works

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line baking sheet with parchment or silpat sheets
• In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients, whisk to blend.
• Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until well combined.
• Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and beat just until moist clumps form.
• Gather the dough together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
• Chill for 30 min-1 hour until dough firms up.
• Pinch off the dough to form 1-inch balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing 1-inch apart. Use your floured index finger or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon press center of each ball making a depression. I use the end of a wooden spoon.
• Fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture.
• Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.