Friday, October 1, 2010

Thumbprint Cookies


As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I have been making cookies for a friend's wedding. Her favorite cookies are thumbprints. I made a total of 32 dozen cookies. 27 dozen of them were thumbprints.

Thumbprint cookies are one of my favorite cookies because of their versatility. You just have to find a recipe for the actual cookie that you like. I often find great recipes here. I always roll mine in walnuts, but you could really roll them in anything. My nephew is allergic to nuts, so my sister uses coconut. You could use sesame seeds or sprinkles or nothing at all. Also, you can use any kind of filling that you like. I used black raspberry jam, sweet white icing, and chocolate. Just use your imagination. If you love turtles, roll them in pecans. Then fill them with caramel and top that with chocolate icing. Just think of a combination that you like and try it. Also, if you are using jam, you should put it in while the cookies are warm. Otherwise, let the cookies cool first. (Note: You can wait to fill them with jam too if you are not serving them within a day or two. Jam will soften them over time, so if you are making the cookies ahead of time, fill them closer to serving.)

Thumbprint cookies's origins are not quite clear. Some people say they have Eastern European Jewish roots. Others claim they originated in Poland. In older cookbooks, they were called Thimble Cookies because a thimble was used to make the indentation in the cookie. They still may be called many different names including Butterballs and Polish Tea Cakes.


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