Thumbprint Shortbread Cookies

I brought these cookies into work one day and I swear they didn’t make it to lunch.

  They are the perfect marriage of buttery shortbread &  fruity sweetness from the jam and almond glaze.

 Plus they look like little bites of sweet summery goodness.

These cookies have honestly been on my to-bake list for years. No joke. Plus they are and continue to be one of the more popular/ highly-rated cookies on allrecipes – check out the original recipe.  Have no idea why I hadn’t gotten around to them sooner..  I honestly think it was because we never had berry jam in our house… it was always grape or something. Nothing against grape, but I just prefer berry flavors in my cookies =)

Not only were these co-worker approved, but grandma seemed to like them as well. You could use any type of jam you’d like for these cookies. I tried two different types: strawberry rhubarb and orange mango peach. To be honest, though the orange mango peach jam sounds deliciously tropical and looks like a little bite of golden sunshine, it really didn’t have too much flavor after it was baked… It just tasted sweet without any distinct fruit flavor. So from that, we preferred the strawberry rhubarb – since the jam itself had a stronger berry flavor, the flavors were able to stand up well to the shortbread cookie.

• Servings: 24 cookies
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

• 1 C butter, softened
• 2/3 C sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 C AP flour
• 1/2 C jam of your choice
• 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
   
2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in both almond and vanilla extracts.
3. Add in flour and combine until dough comes together – I found the dough was a little dry at this point, so I added just a touch of water to help pull the dough together (I know this is probably frowned upon because real shortbread shouldn’t have water in it, but it seemed to work for me)
   
4. Using a dough scoop, divide dough into balls and place on a lined cookie sheet.
5. Using your 1 tsp measuring spoon (or your thumb/ finger), make a small hole in the center of each ball and fill the hole with preserves. (For easy filling, I put my preserves into a small sandwich bag, cut off the corner and carefully piped just enough jam to fill the hole – easy clean up!)
   
6. Bake cookies for 15 – 18 mins or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
7. In a small bowl, mix together glaze ingredients: confectioners’ sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies. (For the glaze, I made it a little stiffer and piped it out of a small piping bag with a small #2 tip for more control)