Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

About this Recipe

Yummy little jam filled thumbprint cookies were always a part of the holiday cookie baskets that my Grandmother and Aunties used to send to us. When I was little, anything lemon was the last to be chosen when I had the option for chocolate or red berry jam of some sort. As I grow up, my tastes are changing and now the lemon flavor with that bit of tang is exactly the flavor my tastebuds are salivating over.

Of interest, cells within taste buds continually turnover throughout adulthood such that roughly 10% of cells are new to each bud each day (1), and this give us a chance to expand our horizons and embrace change. This is a great thing to explain to kids when they claim not to like a certain food, as they may fascinated to learn that if they give it some time they may like something that they didn’t like just a couple weeks ago.

Grandmother’s TIPS for Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

1. We used our own Classic Lemon Curd Recipe for the cookies. You could also use raspberry jam or apricot or Peach Jam.

2. Our lemon curd is a dark yellow almost an orange color because the eggs we use have dark orange yolks.

3. To prevent your dough from cracking, it is helpful to chill it before you scoop and bake.

4. Only use completely cooled cookie sheets lined with a fresh sheet of parchment paper before baking each batch.

References: (1)Beidler LM, Smallman RL. Renewal of cells within taste buds. J. Cell Biol. 1965;27:263–272. [PMC free article] [PubMed]


Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: 20 small cookies

1 egg yolk (No white)

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 Tablespoon pure lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup lemon curd

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

3. Separate the egg yolk from white. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl use an electric beater to cream the butter and confectioners' sugar together. Beat until smooth and pale. Add the egg yolk, lemon juice, salt and zest and beat for about a minute.

5. Add the flour and beat in until moist clumps form.

6. Transfer the dough to a bigger bowl and use your hands to gather the dough and make into a ball.

7. Use a tablespoon measure spoon to portion out the balls then use your hand to roll each ball into a nice rounded firm ball and place the cookies evenly onto your prepared baking sheet.

8. Once the balls are formed use the back of a 1 teaspoon size measuring spoon or some other device to make the thumb imprint into each cookie. You can dip your spoon into flour between each cookie dip imprint to keep from sticking.

9. The dough cracks a bit when you are doing this process. It is very much like a shortbread texture so has this tendency.

10. Set the timer for 18 minutes.

11. Remove baked cookies from the oven.

12. Put about 1/2 teaspoon lemon curd onto each cookie.

13. Return to the oven for two more minutes to set the lemon curd.

14. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack.

15. Lightly dust with confectioners' sugar.

16. Serve now or you can refrigerate or freeze for later.

17. These cookies last one week refrigerated and the will last 2 months in the freezer.

ENJOY!

Delicious homemade cookies are the perfect way to make any day better, but these yummy lemon thumbprint cookies are sure to bring some cheer even to the dullest days thanks to the delicious homemade lemon curd in them. The name for these easy cookies came from the way people used their thumbs to press down the centre of the cookie before baking to make a little indentation.

Once the cookie is baked, it's usually filled with jam filling, most popularly raspberry jam. Some people even put the jam in the cookie while it's baking. Thumbprint cookies have been around since the 19th century, but it's not entirely known where the cookies originated from.

It's said either Sweden, Poland or from the Jewish in Eastern Europe. It's a regular sugar cookie that has some filling or a topping added to it. Some cookie recipes even use a Hershey's Kiss on the top of the cookie or a maraschino cherry on top for a different flavour.

This is one of the dessert recipes you commonly see during the Christmas holidays too, but they are also great to make any time of year. You don't have to use your thumb to make the indentation in the cookies though if you don't want to. You can use the back of a small, round measuring spoon dipped in flour to make the print in the cookie, and it works just as good.

A good tip is to chill your cookie dough before you use it for at least an hour. This will help the flavours settle, and it also makes the dough easier to work with. You will still have some cracking in the dough as it bakes though which is completely normal, but apparently chilling it can prevent this from happening. As for your lemon curd, make sure you use good quality ingredients for the best tasting curd. You can enjoy these cookies with some bitter tea if you find them a bit too sweet, plus it will also help to balance your blood sugar.



Privacy | Contact

© grandmotherskitchen.net