Thumbprint Cookies

There are so many variations of Thumbprint cookies and they all look pretty good.  This recipe however, caught my eye years ago and I’ve been using it ever since.  This is actually a Kraft recipe.  I love the fact that the cookie itself has cream cheese in it to make the cookie even more flavorful.

Ingredients

1 pkg (8 oz.) Philidelphia Cream Cheese Original

3/4 cup (1-1/2) sticks of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2-1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1-1/4 cups raspberry or strawberry jam

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 F

Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended. 

Add flour, baking soda and pecans; mix well.

Refrigerate 30 minutes.  *

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets.

Indent centers. *

Bake 10 minutes.  Fill each cookie with jam.  Bake 8 –10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes.  Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

* NOTES:

What I learned using this receipe:

1. Refrigerate the dough the 30 minutes.  But when rolling the dough into balls allow the dough to warm in your hands.  If the dough remains too cold it will split when you indent the center and your cookies will not have a nice round shape.

2. Indent the centers rather deep.  If you dont make a deep indent your cookies will puff up with the first 10 mintues of baking  and when you try to fill the indent, you won’t have an indent to fill. Without going through the cookies, make the indent fairly deep.

Whether you make just these Thumbprint Cookies or whether you include them in a cookie platter, they are always the first to go.