Thumbprint Cookies

 I rarely make shaped cookies because, really they just take too much time.  I can have a batch of chocolate cookies made start to finish in 45 minutes.  However, after having a few raspberry thumbprint cookies at a recent church event I've been craving those buttery cookies.  I emailed the event coordinator to see if she remembered who made them only to find out she had brought them.  Yay for Lisa.  She calls them Sweetheart cookies.  Regardless of the name, they are one of my new favorites.

I made mine a little smaller (36 cookies), and using spark recipe calculator, mine came out to 75 calories a cookie - I skipped the chocolate drizzle and only put powder sugar on a few.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter softened (do not substitute margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg yolk 

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour

4 tbsp jam/fruit preserves - warmed (I used strawberry, my favorite)

Optional:

Powdered sugar for dusting

2-3 ounces melted semi sweet chocolate (not chips) for drizzling

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease cookie sheet or use a silpat.  In a large bowl cream butter and sugar 2 minutes.  Add egg yolk, beat on medium speed for another minute, dough should be pale and fluffy.  Stir in flour by hand until dough comes together.  Use a cookie scoop or roll dough into 1 inch balls (will make roughly 2 dozen cookies).  Spray the handle of a wooden spoon with non-stick spray then use it to make indentions in the cookies.  Fill with 1/4 tsp warmed jam (warming it will make it easier to scoop and fill cookies).  Bake 13-15 minutes (take off 1-2 minutes if you make smaller cookies).  The jam will shrink considerably during cooking, so refill each cookie as soon as you pull it out of the oven.  Move cookies to wax paper to cool.  

If desired dust warm cookies with powdered sugar and melted chocolate.  Dip a fork in the melted chocolate and gently wave back and forth.  Be careful - it's easy to get overly enthusiastic and have chocolate end up everywhere!

For a slightly more complex flavor you could add up to 1/2 tsp almond or other extract at the same time as the egg yolk.  I love the simplicity of the flavor just as the recipe is, but have fun experimenting.  Because it is so simple, you will get the best results with good quality ingredients.