When I was a kid I loved to collect things: stickers, erasers, pogs, rocks & gems & shells, and troll dolls. I had boxes of stickers arranged by color. A box of erasers, arranged by size and color, one of which (a tiny strawberry), I shoved into my right nostril when I was 5 and then proceeded to panic until I could muster up enough snot force to rocket it out of my head.
I’m sure you wanted to know that little tid-bit….
I had rocks and gems and shells, arranged by color and lustre. And Pogs, remember those? I also had a colored-coded stack of pogs capped off by my hologram Lion King slammer. My troll dolls lived on a shelf, in a row, and the ones with the bejeweled belly buttons were (surprise!) color coded. Are you seeing a pattern here? If there was a collection of items in varying colors, I would arrange them into a rainbow. It’s just how I rolled (and still do, I love to organize by color).
This also applies to cookies. See, when I would visit my grandparents they always had store-bought jam thumbprints in at least 3 flavors. I would get my little plate of cookies and arrange and rearrange them according to their jewel-toned bellies. Then I would systematically eat the outer cookie ring, leaving the jammy centers for last.
I was a weird kid, it’s okay. I know.
Now, as an adult, I try not to collect too much…I have Hoarder-phobia…which means I watch Hoarders nonstop on Netflix, then I purge my apartment of any and all unnecessary or unused items. This has yet to affect my book and cookbook collections ( we have a storage closet full of books, sigh) and serve-ware/small plate/bowls/utensils hoard….I mean collection.
Also, as an “adult”, I make cookies from scratch. The jam in these, unlike the cookies of my childhood, is not gummy. Also, they contain ground nuts. You can do a variety of jam fillings and arrange them in a cookie rainbow if you feel so compelled. Or, you can do one jam filling so your adult friends will stop making fun of you for being all rainbows and unicorns…or whatever.
Jam Thumbprints
Adapted from Cafe Fernando
These cookies are wonderfully crumbly and buttery.
I only varied this recipe slightly, using pistachios in place of hazelnuts and baking the jam into the thumbprints instead of spooning it in after. I like the baked-in gooeyness of the jam better.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground pistachios
4 ounces butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2/3 cup jam, your choice!
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.
In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy (5 mins).
Whisk together flour, ground pistachios, and salt. Incorporate into butter mixture until combined.
Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (for easier shaping).
Using a teaspoon, form a small balls and place on cookies sheets, evenly spaced apart. Using your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, make indentations in the cookies, creating a well for the jam. Fill each cookie well with jam.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are just browned around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Snap! I was a collector when I was a child too. I collected stationery: erasers (especially those that smelt nice like fruit!), pencils, pretty writing paper with co-ordinating envelopes, and oooh stickers as well. Particularly Hello Kitty stickers. We would do swaps at school. I also collected miniature Strawberry Shortcake characters. They smelt good until the fragrance wore off and all you could smell was rubber – arrghck. My mum made me collect stamps, perhaps in a vain attempt to make me look smarter. Didn’t happen. Now as an adult I still collect and arrange. My bestfriend effectionately tells me I have a touch of OCD! 🙂
X,
Shirleen
ah! i totally forgot about my sanrio stationary collection! i still love Hello Kitty, I have a keychain and I’m wearing HK socks right now. 🙂
Easy recipe = lovely cookies!
Thanks for sharing!
and they are super easy! the dough came together in minutes.
These are pretty! And I support you being all rainbows and unicorns for realz.
it’s nice to know i have support 😉
although i don’t know what pogs are but I am totally a collector of all sorts! i remember luctantly throwing away SOME of the stuff very reluctantly a couple of months back cos my mom threatened that she was running to live in the “forest” opposite our flat cos there was absolutely no space for her at home. Who could ignore such an ultimatum right? My sister though was, actually still is the BIGGEST HOARDER in the family though. I only got to know of jam thumbprints not to long ago and they are a huge hit with family and friends! Just wished I actually got down to making my own jam like you! Your ground nuts jam sounds awesome- what’s in there besides ground nuts?
p.s i love rainbows. truly and deeply do 🙂
ha! i used to collect troll dolls too. gorgeous photo my dear!
Lovely cookies. Very grown-up for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that my kiddos would gobble them right up too.
Power Ranger Slammer was where it was at!
Just came across your blog on take a mega bite. omg you and your blog is so amazing. following you for infinity now!
thanks! i hope you do 🙂
just stumbled across your blog and will be following it 🙂
i used to eat thumb print cookies just like you did and the supermarket ones were superb! as with collections, i surely wasn’t as organised as you were. but the pile of stamps from my childhood still exists in a cupboard.
can’t wait to try these beauties. recipe bookmarked!
These look wonderful! The pistachios in them must make them taste amazing!!!