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ike every other delicious invention, thumbprint cookies’ origin is claimed by many. So, some say that Jewish people invented those, another story says that they were created in Poland, some swear that their origin is actually Swedish, and others claim they appeared somewhere in Central Europe.
They are made of small pieces of shortcrust pastry rounded into a ball, and holed with a back of a wooden spoon. You could use your thumb to make the hole, which is probably how those cookeis got their name, but I prefer to use tools – a wooden spoon handle, or a back of a measuring spoon. Anyway – the choice is yours. When I was a little girl, while my mother made thumbprint cookies – usually around Christmas, making holes was my special assignment which I enjoyed tremendously! I felt so important dipping the handle of the wooden spoon into flour first, so it wouldn’t stick to the dough, and then into the pastry balls, exactly in the middle! And after baking, we would fill the holes with raspberry jam, yummy!
Of course, later I’ve learned that you could make a large variety of these cookies – roll the dough balls into chopped nuts before baking, filling them with ganache instead of jam (mmm…), or filling them with soft caramel! Come to think of it – why not fill every batch with different fillings? Anyway, you will probably want to double this one, since these puppies just melt in your mouth!
Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
by:Tereza Alabanda,The Pastry Maestra
PRINT PDF (EN) ISPIŠI PDF (HR)Prep. time : 20 minutes
Cook time : 20 minutes
Ready in 40 minutes plus cooling
Level : Basic
Ingredients:- All purpose flour 200g (7oz)
- Butter 130g (4.6oz)
- Sugar 65g (2.3oz)
- Vanilla powder to taste
- Zest of one lemon
- Eggs 50g (1.8oz or 1 medium egg)
- Egg whites 60g (2.1oz or egg whites from 2 medium eggs)
- Almonds 160g (5.6oz)
- Raspberry jam 100g (3.5oz)
- Place almonds into a baking pan and toast them in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for about 10 minutes. Leave them to cool down, and chop them finely.
- Line one large baking tray with parchment paper.
- Put softened butter, sugar, finely grated lemon zest, and vanilla powder into a bowl of a stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment until creamy.
- Add one egg and mix for another couple of minutes.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold sifted flour into the mixture until you get a uniform dough.
- Wrap the dough into plastic foil and refrigerate until firm – for about an hour.
- When your dough is firm, weigh 15g (1⁄2 oz) pieces and roll each one into a ball.
- Whisk the egg white for a couple of minutes to break the protein (don’t make meringue!) and dip each ball into the egg white first, and then into chopped almonds.
- Make a hole in the center each ball with the end of a wooden spoon, measuring spoon, or with your thumb.
- Bake cookies at 180°C (350°F) for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
- Leave your thumbprint cookies to cool and fill each hole with raspberry jam.
Copyright© PastryMaestra.comTM
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