A timeless holiday favorite, Thumbprint Cookies, gets a fragrant twist with orange zest and a jewel-like finish of jam. These buttery, nut-crusted thumbprints were one of the Hendricks family’s favorites to make during their Crate Cooking School workshop. They’re simple to bake, endlessly customizable, and perfect for sharing.
- Advertisement -
Read more in A New Way to Cookie at Crate Cooking School.
Print
Thumbprint Cookies
- Yield: Yields approximately 100 cookies 1x
Description
A timeless holiday favorite gets a fragrant twist with orange zest and a jewel-like finish of jam.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 ⅔ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cup sugar
- 8 eggs, separated (egg yolks in one bowl, whites in another)
- 4 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 cups flour
- 4 cups finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
- Stonewall Kitchen Jam of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking pans with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, vanilla, orange zest, and salt. Beat until well combined. Add flour on low speed until blended.
- Beat egg whites in a small bowl until frothy. Place finely chopped pecans in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Use a small cookie scoop (2 teaspoons), roll dough into balls, dip into egg whites and roil into nuts.
- Place on prepared cookie sheet. Make an indentation on the top of each cookie with your thumb or the stick of a wooden spoon.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and make indentation again. Place ½ teaspoon jam into each indentation. Bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow cooling on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
Story and Styling by Quelcy Kogel
Photography by Laura Petrilla
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine‘s print edition.
