Sweetheart Thumbprint Cookies

Name: Sweetheart Thumbprint Cookies
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1.5 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature; 0.5 cup confectioners' sugar; 0.25 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 0.25 teaspoon kosher salt; 1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour; Sanding sugar, preferably a combination of fine and coarse; Pinch of pink luster dust (optional); 1 large egg white; 0.75 cup jam, such as orange, apricot, peach, strawberry, or pineapple

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1 Review

By

Riley Wofford

Updated on December 20, 2019

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Yield:

2 dozen

Tell your sweeties, "You're my jam!" in a way that'll turn them into jelly. Simply roll butter-cookie dough into balls, and press the handle end of a spoon into each twice to make a V that expands as it bakes (genius!). Then sprinkle with sanding sugar, fill the indentations with warmed preserves, and give your heart away again and again.

Ingredients

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup confectioners' sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Sanding sugar, preferably a combination of fine and coarse
Pinch of pink luster dust (optional)
1 large egg white
¾ cup jam, such as orange, apricot, peach, strawberry, or pineapple

Directions

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Beat butter with confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and salt until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Beat in flour until a dough forms.
Roll level tablespoons of dough into balls; arrange 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Using the end of the handle of a flat-bottomed eating utensil or rubber spatula, press two deep indentations into the center of each ball to create a V (it will expand during baking to become a heart).
Bake until bottoms are golden and cookies are just set, 17 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together sanding sugar and a tiny pinch of luster dust. In a small bowl, beat egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Working with a few cookies at a time, brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle generously with sanding-sugar mixture.
Return to oven and bake until egg wash is dry and sugar has set, about 1 minute. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.
In a small saucepan, bring jam to a boil. Press through a fine-mesh strainer; discard solids. Spoon into heart indentations (about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie), or transfer heated jam to squeeze bottles for more precision. Let jam set completely before serving. (Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.)

Johnny Miller

Originally appeared: Martha Stewart Living, January/February 2020