Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies – you may also know them as Polish Tea Cakes or Butterballs.

Combining all things people love so much – butter, nuts and jam – they are classic and favorite cookies for any occasion.

And you know what? They are also really easy to make –  just have a look!

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To prepare the Thumbprint Cookies you need:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (100 grams) walnuts (or hazelnuts or almonds or pecans)

1/2 cup jam (any flavor you like)

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1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the nuts on the sheet.

3. Toast the nuts for about 10 minutes.

4. Remove the nuts from the oven and let cool.

Then chop them finely and place them into a bowl.

Nice!

5. Now let’s make the dough.

In the bowl of your electric mixer mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

6. Separate the egg and add the egg yolk to the batter.

Add the vanilla extract.

And then add the flour and salt to the batter and beat until just combined.

7. On a lightly floured surface form a log from the dough and cut it into about 12 – 15 equal pieces.

8. Form a ball from each piece and refrigerate for about 30 minutes (the balls will be easier to work with when refrigerated).

9. In a bowl whisk the egg white until frothy.

10. Dip a ball into the whisked egg white…

11. … and then roll in the nuts lightly.

Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet spacing about 1 inch (2,5 cm) apart.

12. And now the funny part!

Take one well-built thumb and make an indentation into the center of each cookie.

13. Using a teaspoon, fill the cookie with the jam (if you want to make it more neat you can use a pastry bag or – like me – a small plastic bag with one corner cut off).

14. Bake for about 13-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and let cool.

If you are planning to make these cookies in advance, you can bake them without the jam filling (in that case, reduce the baking time by a few minutes). They can be stored for about one week and filled with jam the same day as serving.

This recipe makes about 15 cookies.

Enjoy!

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Cat’s Eye Sandwich Cookies

cat's-eye-in-bowl

Do you feel like sandwich cookies with jam filling today?

Then let’s prepare some CAT’S EYES.

They are very delicious, easy and fun to make.

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup (80 grams) confectioner’s sugar

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon zest

jam (any flavor you like; stronger is better)

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1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Mix the flour with sugar and salt (set aside some sugar for sprinkling).

4. Add the egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest to the mixture.

cat's-eyes-dough

5. Mix by hand until you form a ball.

cat's-eyes-cutting-dough

6. On a floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch (1 cm) thickness.

Using a round cookie cutter cut out the dough.

cat's-eyes-on-sheet

7. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.

Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the centers of HALF of the cookies on the baking sheet. (You will be sandwiching two cookies together and there will be a small “window/eye” in the top cookie so you can see the jam underneath.

Re-roll any scraps and cut out the cookies.

cat's-eyes-out-of-oven

8. Bake for 9 minutes or until very lightly browned.

cat's-eyes-jam

9. While the cookies are cooling place the jam in a small saucepan and heat gently until it becomes smooth.

Let cool.

cat's-eyes-jam-on-cookie

10. Spoon about 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of jam on the full cookie.

cat's-eyes-powder-sugar

11. Roll the top side of the upper cookie in the confectioner’s sugar.

cat's-eyes-close-up

12. And sandwich the two parts together gently.

Enjoy dear friends!


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