Food styling and photo by Orange Piggy © Sarah Phillips
Buttery lemon thumbprint cookies, filled with raspberry jam are always in style. They make a wonderful holiday gift. You can also fill the cookies after baking with buttercream. Omit the raspberry jam, and simply make a small batch with 1/4 cup shortening, 1/4 cup butter, a pinch of salt, about 2 cups of powdered sugar and a little milk to soften the consistency. With a pastry bag and an open star tube, pipe a little rosette on top of the cooled cookie. Sprinkle with “jimmies” or nonpareils. We also have a recipe for Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies.
COOKIE RECIPE HELP
INGREDIENTS
Cookies
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; spoon into measuring cup and level to rim
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons lemon juice; from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon (from 1 lemon) grated lemon zest or 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
1/4 cup raspberry jam or any flavor preserves
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (sift after measuring)
2 to 3 teaspoons water or lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon peel, optional
INSTRUCTIONS
1 . In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. In a medium size mixing bowl, cut cold butter into tablespoon size pieces. With a hand-held mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, mix in the egg yolk, lemon juice, and zest. Scrape sides of bowl often. With a large wooden spoon, fold in flour mixture.
3. Form dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes or until cold and stiff.
4. 20 minutes before you are going to bake the cookies, position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
You’ll need at least two (preferably four) UNGREASED non insulated cookie sheets or sheet pans. You can also cover them with parchment paper (not waxed) or a silpat (silicone) mat liner, if desired.
5. Pinch off small portions of the cold dough and shape into 1-inch balls. Place on the baking sheet 2 inches apart. With a floured finger make an impression in center of each ball (edges may crack slightly). Do NOT fill.
6. If you are using regular jams from a jar, bake the cookies for about 9 minutes, then when the cookie is almost done, remove and fill the impressions with jam, then bake for another minute or so or until the cookies are set and the bottoms are lightly browned. The total baking time will be about 11 to 13 minutes, Let sit on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to rack to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the almond glaze, if using: stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice in small bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies set on a wire cake rack set over a piece of waxed paper to catch any excess glaze.
Food styling and photo by Orange Piggy © Sarah Phillips
STORAGE
Store in an airtight container up to 1 week, in between layers of wax paper. Cookies freeze well for a month or more.
