Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies with Recipe

As promised I have brought you the picture of the yummy Strawberry Shortbread Cookies I made this weekend. Don't they look tasty? They really are good, they're almost too sweet though. You could definitely make them without the jam and they would still be great. Especially if you don't want something really sweet. They are pretty simple to make too. Have you noticed that is a theme with me here lately? Can't beat tasty and easy too.

I'm not sure where I came across this recipe, some magazine somewhere. I always tear the pages I want out of my magazines so I don't have a huge pile of magazines hanging around but I never label the pages. I'm going to have to get better about that. I'm thinking they were from a holiday baking edition from a few years ago though. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find them.

I don't have any pictures of the cookies in progress because I was rushing around to get everything made and out the door in time. You don't need them though, they are easy enough to do without them. (Have I mentioned enough times how easy they are?)

Ingredients for Cookie:

1 Cup butter or margarine

2/3 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 Cups all purpose flour

1/2 Cup raspberry jam

On this last ingredient I cheated and used strawberry butter I made a few weeks back because I already had it on hand. You could use any flavor you prefer. I've made it with raspberry before and it was good. I think it would be wonderful with blueberry too. I'll have to try that next.

Combine butter, sugar and almond extract in large bowl. I used my mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low and add flour. Beat until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Here it says at least one hour. You can easily make the dough the night before and just refrigerate it until you need it. That's what I usually do.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1" balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Make indentation in center of each cookie with your thumb (hence the title) and fill each indentation with approximately 1/4 tsp of your chosen jam. Don't overfill with jam or it will melt out all over your pan. Yes this is experience talking here.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute then remove from cookie sheets and place on cooling racks. Mine barely took 14 minutes to cook so watch them carefully until you figure out how long your oven takes to cook them. You don't want to overcook them.

Meanwhile make your Glaze.

Ingredients:

1 Cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

2 to 3 tsp water

Combine powdered sugar and almond extract in a small bowl. Add enough water to reach desired glazing consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies. I didn't need to add the full amount of water to mine so just add a little at a time.

The recipe says it makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies. Of course this depends on how closely you can get all your balls to 1". Mine are rarely even. My grandmother uses a small ice cream type scoop to make hers uniform. It works really well.

Fix yourself a nice glass of cold milk or iced tea and enjoy!