Cherry Coconut Thumb Prints

Last night I baked up a storm, getting ready to send out a package of cookies and scones to sunny F-L-A while our temps here get colder and colder. It was warm in my kitchen last night, though, as batch after batch of cookies went in and out of my oven. There were cooling racks everywhere as the assembly line of goodies went on. I baked from 9 pm to about 1 am, and woke up to a kitchen that looked like a bomb went off! Oh well, the price I pay for creativity!

One of the cookies I made last night was a thumb print cookie - basically a sugar cookie dough, rolled in a ball, then rolled in egg white, then coconut, and finally indented in the middle (with the end of a wooden spoon actually, not my thumb) and filled with cherry preserves. This recipe can be customized to your own preferences - don't like coconut? Used finely chopped walnuts. Have a favorite jelly or jam? Use that. There's no one way to make this cookie. I just happen to love coconut and cherries!

This recipe begins with my favorite sugar cookie dough. I had pouches of sugar cookie mix in my pantry (for those quick projects with my grandsons) but for Christmas, I wanted something great, and that's Alton Brown's Sugar Cookie Recipe, the gold standard in my experience. The only real differences between Alton's recipe and what I do are that I add vanilla for a punch of flavor, and I do not refrigerate the dough. For rolled cookies, I find it rolls out beautifully just after mixing, and that works for me. Alton also suggests rolling out with a dusting of confectioners sugar - I use flour. That's where we differ.  But there's no rolling pin for this recipe - you only need your hands!

So, here's the recipe. It's beautiful, delicious, and fun to make - pretty much a perfect combination for a great cookie!

CHERRY COCONUT THUMB PRINTS
from Alton Brown's Sugar Cookie Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (Always!!!)

Stir together:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Set aside.

In mixing bowl, cream:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar

Add:
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition)

Using your hands, roll dough into 1-inch diameter balls.

For coating and filling:
1 egg white, beaten with about a tablespoon of water to break it up
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (or 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts)
A few tablespoons cherry preserves or  your favorite jam

Drop about 3 or 4 dough balls into egg white, coat evenly. With a fork, pick up and drop into coconut, rolling around until well coated. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Make a dent in the middle (about half-way down into the center) and fill each dent with about 1/4 teaspoon preserves or jam.

Bake until coconut is browning nicely, 10-11 minutes at least. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing to cooling rack. Cookies may seem soft in the center but they will firm up as they cool.

SHARE. EAT. ENJOY!

Christmas Cookie Platter

This morning I delivered the first of more than a few Christmas cookie platters that I'll be putting together over the next few weeks.  A couple of friends had asked if I planned to bake again this year, and at first I said no, that I wanted time to relax and enjoy the season.  Then I started thinking about cookies, and recipes, and more cookies, and what I could do and the impulse to make cookie platters took over and here we are!  These are some of my standards, and seem well-loved by my friends.  My personal favorite are the jam thumbprints, made with Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe, rolled in coconut, and baked with my friend Catherine Golden's jam.  For this batch, I used her pineapple apricot jam (amazing) and some strawberry jam as well.  Rounding out the cookie platter are gingerbread men, brownie bites (with melted chocolate drizzle and crushed candy canes on top), sugar cookie snowflakes, and peanut butter kisses.

Linked here is the recipe for the sugar cookies,   I rolled the dough (not chilled) into1-inch balls which were then rolled in an egg white wash (one egg white beaten with a tablespoon of water) and then into coconut.  I flattened them a bit, made a good dent with my thumb (thus the name) and filled the indentations with about 1/4 tsp. jam each.  I baked them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes or until the coconut was nice and toasty.  You can see by the photo how they look when they're done.

Now I'm uspstairs (my house) with Henry who's testing a gingerbread man - 2 thumbs up!

Hope you enjoy your weekend.  We'll be baking more cookies today!

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

A favorite cookie to make this time of year is the Jam Thumbprint.  I am very fortunate to have prize-winning jam for my cookies; my friend Catherine Golden wins blue ribbons every summer at the Saratoga County Fair, and she shares!  This year she's given me jars of both her home-made apricot and raspberry jams.  They are the crowning jewels of this cookie, one that always shows up on my holiday platter.

Jam Thumbprints are very simple.  With your favorite rolled sugar cookie recipe (because it is firm, or even packaged sugar cookie dough if you're pressed for time), you form the dough into balls about an inch in diameter, approximately the size of a gum ball from those machines when we were little kids.  Then the dough is dipped into a beaten egg white and rolled in coconut or crushed nuts.  Placed on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, an impression is made in the center (thus the "thumbprint" though I use the handle end of a wooden spoon), just right for a half-teaspoon of jam. 

Catherine Golden's Prize-Winning Jam

I love these cookies.  Here's the simple recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper (if you don't have any, go get it.  It's one of the most useful kitchen tools you'll ever have). 

Your favorite sugar cookie dough for rolled cookies
1 egg white, beaten
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (or whatever nut you prefer)
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup jam/s

With your sugar cookie dough prepared, form 1" diameter balls, then coat in beaten egg white and roll in either nuts or coconut.  Place on cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.  Make a depression in the center of each ball, about 1/3 of the way down, no further.  Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of jam in each depression. 

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes OR JUST UNTIL THEY VISIBLY START TO BROWN ON THE OUTSIDE EDGES (ovens are different, you really have to watch them). 

Remove from oven, let sit for a minute, then move to wire rack to complete cooling. 

I guarantee, you will love these!

Photo credit: http://jessie-cooks.blogspot.com/2008/05/bely-coco-nut-jam-thumbprint-cookies.html