Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints

Ingredients
For the dough:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
⅔ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup seedless raspberry jam
pinch of salt
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons water (more or less as needed for drizzling consistency)
1½ teaspoons almond extract


Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar and ½ teaspoon almond extract. Beat at medium speed until the butter mixture is creamy. Scrape sides of mixing bowl as needed. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour and a pinch of salt. Mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 1 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared pan. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your smallest finger (or thumb if you want a larger pocket). The edges of the dough may crack slightly. Fill each with a heaping ¼ teaspoon jam.
Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let the cookies stand 1 minute before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cookies and allow them to set.
Notes
Adapted from a Land-O-Lakes recipe

I used unsalted butter in my recipe. Please check the dough to make sure it is salty enough for your taste. Perhaps adding ¼ teaspoon of salt instead of a pinch would help if you feel it needs more. I always bake with unsalted butter and do not like the taste of salted. We love the Land-O-Lakes brand of butter so this recipe was tested with their unsalted product.

NOTE - after receiving a couple of comments about the cookie spreading too much, I thought I would mention a few tips -

1. Make sure you are using Land-O-Lakes butter. That is the only one I have tested these cookies with.
2. Make sure the dough is well chilled before making the dough balls.
3. Do not smash the entire dough ball flat when making the indentation. Use a small finger and push straight down into the center of the cookie. DO NOT MAKE THE INDENTION TOO DEEP. The bigger the whole, the wider the cookies will spread. Please see the photos for reference. Even though they are called thumbprints, if you use your thumb they may not spread correctly and hold the jelly in tact.

Hope this helps you have great success with these simple but delicious cookies!

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