I tried some new recipes this year, and they are definitely winners. The first batch was thumbprints, filled with blackberry jam and raspberry preserves.
The raspberry ones were the best.
Thumbprints Recipe!
Ingredients: 2 C. sifted flour (it really doesn’t have to be sifted if you don’t want to deal with that), 1/2 tsp salt, 1 C softened butter/margarine, 1/2 C sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, any type of your preferred jam (we’ve tried blackberry, raspberry, and peach)
Directions: Sift together flour & salt. Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy. Add vanilla. Slowly mix in flour, 1/2 C at a time until just blended. Chill dough 1 to 2 hours. Preheat your oven to 325. Quickly shape dough into 1-inch balls and space 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. After cutting/trimming your thumbnail, make a deep thumbprint in the center of each cookie, but don’t press all the way through. Add a tiny scoop of filling. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are the color of pale sand. Remove from oven and cool. Once cookies are completely cooled, you can dust with powdered sugar (for a party) or leave them plain (for at-home, tea-time enjoyment).
However, the superstar of the day was shortbread Nutella sandwich cookies. Not much more can be said than WOW: these are THAT good.
Nutella Shortbread Sandwiches Recipe!
Ingredients: 1 C softened butter/margarine, 1 C powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2.5 C all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and one jar of Nutella
Directions: Cream butter & sugar together. Add vanilla. Sift flour & salt, then slowly add to the mixer. If dough seems too dry, add a couple teaspoons of milk. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and chill for one hour.
Preheat your oven to 350. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut shapes (this is where these cookies lend themselves to any kind of party or holiday, so long as you have the right cookie cutter). Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet & refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Next, bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool at least 15 minutes. Spread Nutella on half of the cookies and sandwich them. If you want to glam them up a bit, dust them with powdered sugar.
Enjoy, sweethearts!
A Patriot in Prague 