Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I love baking and am always trying out new recipes for cookies, cakes and more. I was sent jams from GoodGood, which is a company that makes keto-friendly jams, naturally sweetened and 100% vegetarian and vegan.  While I did enjoy quite a few pieces of toast slathered with their jams throughout my journey with these jars, I found that I could use these jams in one of my favorite cookie recipes - thumbprint cookies.  

GoodGood has four flavors of jam - strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and apricot - as well as a chocolate hazelnut spread.  Since I have a nut allergy, I could not try this, but my dad said it was delicious and very akin to Nutella and other chocolate hazelnut spreads.  

The recipe I used did not turn out very well the first time, so I made some adjustments to make a second batch.  It's always important in baking to make sure that you're reading the recipe fully through before you begin, which is a lesson that my very impatient self always seems to ignore. 

For my first batch, I added the jam right when I was preparing the cookies to go in the oven, and found that, because this jam was a little bit thinner than the homemade jams I was used to, it ran a little bit over the edges, causing the sides of the cookies to caramelize.  Now, I see nothing wrong with this, but I wanted to see if I could get the jam to stay in the center a little bit better.  Instead of adding the jam before the cookies went in the oven, I placed the cookies, with their thumbprints already indented, in the oven for 10 minutes, then took them out and carefully added the jam during the last 3-4 minutes of baking and found that they turned out much better. Either preparation method is delicious and will yield excellent cookies, but if you're looking for a little bit of a better presentation, you may want to try the latter method that I mentioned above. 

Thumbprint Cookies

• Prep Time:10 mins
• Cook Time:40 mins
• Total Time:50 mins
• Servings:35
• Easy

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks butter softened
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanila extract
• Jams for filling

• Step 1

  Preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

  

• Step 2

  Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together to cream it. You want the mixture to be pale and fluffy, which should take about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the egg.

  

• Step 3

  Add flour mixture, slowly, in two batches, until incorporated evenly.

  

• Step 4

  Scoop 1 inch balls of dough onto baking sheet. Using either your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon (cover with flour if you do, so it doesn't stick), press into the tops of the cookies to form the divot that your jam will go into.

  

• Step 5

  Scoop small spoonful of jam and place in the center of each cookie, where you made your indentation. Bake until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, 13 to 14 minutes. Cool and enjoy!