Marionberry Thumbprint Cookies

As you may remember, I fell in love with the strawberry rhubarb filling of this awesome pie that my mom and I found in Sebastapol back in August. I was so so so hoping that the company would have jarred this magical filling and made a jam, but they didn't. Darn. My parents went on a hunt for jam while still on vacation in Bodega Bay, and brought me back two jars - marionberry and fig and muscat jam. So delicious. If you are in the Sebastapol or Bodega area, you've got to go check out Kozlowski Farms. It will seriously be worth the trip, I promise. Check out their website here!

Back to cookies. Sorry, I get off track easily, especially when it's about jam or cookies. Ryan and I were getting ready for our vacation (see how far behind I am on blogging!) and I realized that it was time I make us some goodies and try out some new recipes. Plus, cookies are a must when we travel. Maybe it's just snacks in general, but cookies always seem to find there way into the stash. I have had my eye on these thumbprint cookies for awhile now and what better time to try them when I had some fantastic jam! 

These cookies are super simple and I am willing to bet you have everything already in your pantry and fridge to make these tasty morsels. You don't need fancy jam for these, you can just use whatever you have in your fridge. But if you have a variety of jam, spice it up and do half one flavor and half another! The nuts I rolled the cookies in really gave them a great added salty and sweet deliciousness too. I rolled mine in chopped pecans since I had some left over from making german chocolate cupcakes last month, but you can use whatever you have in your pantry - almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts. They all will be great in in this cookie. Promise! If you don't do nuts, or you are allergic, you can leave them out all together.

see, you probably have all these ingredients in your kitchen

MMM JAM!

dough rolled in little balls (don't know why this photo ended up before the next one, oops)

butter and sugar creamed

cookie station!

rolled in egg whites and chopped nuts

using the end of a wooden spoon or spatula is perfect for creating the right size hole for jam!

filled with jam and ready to bake

baked and ready to eat. just be careful to not sample right when they come out. the jam is like lava!

Thumbprint Cookies (courtesy of www.joyofbaking.com)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 large egg, separated

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup hazelnuts, almonds, pecans or walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 cup jam 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until combined. If the batter is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for about 30 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Place the chopped nuts on a plate. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Taking one ball of dough at a time, dip first into the egg white and then lightly roll in the nuts. Place on the prepared baking sheet spacing about 1 inch apart. Using your thumb or end of a wooden spoon, make a indentation into the center of each cookie and fill with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

Bake for about 13 - 15 minutes, or until cookies are set and the nuts have nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. 

There was not a thing I changed about this recipe. In fact, I can not wait to make these again during the holidays and try our different jam flavors in the middle. These are winner and a cookie that will now become part of my cookie collection for a long time. What is not to love about buttery sweet cookies with jam!