Friday, December 16, 2005

Final Installment of Holiday Cookie Exchange #1

This is our last weekend for the first Holiday Cookie Exchange. Thanks to everyone who's participated so far. If you haven't seen the last two weekends, you should definitely check them out!

Feel free to jump in any time and I'll keep updating all weekend.

This week my theme was SIMPLE. Why? Because I'm tired, stressed out and sick! Boy, don't you love the holidays?

So, I dug up this recipe for Jam Thumbprints. I've never made them before, but I had all of the ingredients on hand and they sounded good. It turns out, they are good! And they were simple enough for my six-year-old (six since Monday!) to do tons of helping. These cookies are buttery, crumbly like shortbread, and simple enough to make with one big bowl, measuring tools, a wooden spoon, a pastry blender and cookie sheets.


JAM THUMBPRINTS
Try filling them with different colored preserves and jams for a colorful presentation.

2/3 cup butter (about room temp)
1/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup strawberry preserves

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and salt. Gradually mix in flour.
3. Shape dough into 3/4 inch balls (I did them about 1 inch). Dip in lightly beaten egg whites, then roll in finely chopped walnuts. Place 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press down center of each with your thumb. Be sure to make a good indentation, some of mine wanted to rise up.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, fill centers of cookies with strawberry preserves.

Take a look at some other great recipes here:

bna at Peanut Butter and Purple Onions made these holiday-perfect Ginger Cookies

Kristi at Interrupted Wanderlust distracted herself by making Oatmeal Spice Cookies and Pumpkin Cookies

Vicki at The Moveable Feast dusted off her trusty first cookbook and baked some Walnut Lace Cookies

Michelle shunned the traditional cookie and made these very sweet looking Pink Christmas Marshmallows over at The Accidental Scientist

Eggy in Singapore at the Greedy Goose (welcome aboard!), made these yummy sounding Chocolate Malt Cookies

9 comments:

vlb5757 said...

Cute cookies! Very colorful. I am ready on time this week.
www.themoveablefeastpcs.blogspot.com
Thanks for hosting this. Got your message about VD and will get that going here soon!

Michelle said...

Oh I think your cookies look awesome! And yummy. I hope you're feeling a little bit better?

I went a little on the unusual side...Here's the link to mine:

http://store1.yimg.com/I/yhst-32066320605719_1872_1033632

Thanks again for hosting! This was really fun, and my first time baking during the holidays!

Annette Tan said...

I love Thumbprints. And I'm going to try that recipe soon too! Don't you just love Martha Stewart's Holday Cookies? My entry is up at greedygoose.blogpot.com. Thanks for hosting!

Dawn said...

Thanks for your submissions, everyone!! I am feeling much better, after I made a call to the doctor's office and got a prescription for antibiotics! Darn those sinus infections!

Eggy, thanks for joining in on the fun! I actually don't have the Martha Stewart book...and I have no idea where I got that recipe for the thumbprints (it was in my recipe box for probably more than 3 or 4 years!).

Melissa, I will wait for you! Glad that you will be participating...

Annette Tan said...

Thanks Dawn! I must have gotten mixed up about the book :)

vlb5757 said...

Dawn, I spent all weekend trying to fix the really small paragraph on the Cookie Exchange entry. I finally got it fixed. I have no idea what on earth was up with that. Thanks for the heads up!

Michelle said...

Hi Dawn!
I'm glad to hear that you're feeling a bit better! I wanted to answer your question on my post - the marshmallows definitely melt, but I think they take a little longer than the traditional ones, but that may just depend on the size. I can tell you that the melty marshmallow goodness on top after they melt is pretty tasty!

Heather said...

I wish I would have found this earlier, I so would have participated.
I will keep watching your site for the next one, and possibly host an upcoming version???

Dawn said...

Heather, thanks for stopping by! Yes, we hope to do another Holiday Cookie Exchange for Valentine's Day. I think that Vickie at themoveablefeastpcs.blogspot.com will probably host that event. This was a lot of fun, and I think that everyone brought something a little different to the table (no pun intended), even if it was just a story of making the cookies.