AUNT MAE’S THUMBPRINT COOKIES (Yankee Magazine)

By sandiB2010

About 20 years ago, we ran this recipe with a story from
reader Charlotte S. Undercoffer: “My mother died when I
was 13, and my father’s sister tried to make Christmas special
for me and my brother. The most important day before
Christmas was the day that we baked Aunt Mae’s thumbprint
cookies. After we had mixed all the ingredients, she
put the little balls of dough on the baking pan. Then we used
our thumbs to make the indentation for the jelly. (It always
had to be cherry jelly for us—but any kind is good.)”

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup cherry, raspberry, or strawberry jam (I like apricot)

Details

Servings 16

Preparation

Step 1

? In the bowl of a standing mixer or, if using a handheld
mixer, in a large bowl, beat butter and brown
sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add
egg yolk, flour, vanilla, and salt and mix well.

? Preheat oven to 400°. In a small bowl, beat the egg
white until frothy. Put walnuts in another small
bowl.

? Roll cookie dough into walnut-size balls, then roll
each ball in the egg white and then the walnuts.
Arrange on two ungreased cookie sheets and press
the center of each cookie with your thumb (this is
a great activity for young kids). Bake 5 minutes,
then reduce heat to 300°. Bake 8 minutes more, then
remove the cookies from the oven and check to see
if the thumbprints remain. If not (the cookies do
tend to puff up), use the handle of a wooden spoon
to re-press the thumbprints, then return the cookies
to the oven until they’re light golden brown, 5 to 7
more minutes. Remove from oven and cool at least
30 minutes, then spoon a bit of jam into the center
of each cookie.

Yield: 16 cookies