No matter what kind of holiday entertaining you're planning, I can't think of one occasion where cookies are inappropriate. Holiday brunch? Absolutely. The office potluck? You'll be lucky if you have leftover crumbs.
During the month of December, cookies also happen to be a perfectly acceptable breakfast or midnight snack and if there is any time of year where you're going to allow yourself to eat cookies in bed, this the one. I think you understand where I'm going here. It's December, get out your rolling pins and preheat your ovens.
If you have leftover preserves from in the fridge from a holiday brunch, bake off a batch of simple almond thumbprint cookies, rolled with toasted almonds for extra texture and crunch. These cookies are filled with the perfect amount of festive, tart cherries to balance the cookies' mild sweetness.
Sour Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
What you need:
1/2 Cup (or 1 stick) butter
1/3 Cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 Teaspoon almond extract (you can sub vanilla extract if it's all you have)
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup of toasted almonds, finely processed in a food processor
Sour Cherry Preserves (or your favorite flavor)
How-To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour, add to the butter mixture and mix well, until combined. Let dough chill in the refrigerator for about one hour.
Roll teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Roll each ball into the toasted almond mixture and place on baking sheet. Make an indentation with your thumb in the center of each round ball. Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies are lightly brown.
Wait until cookies have completely cooled and fill the center indentations with sour cherry preserves.
Winner: Congratulations to Kristen McLane on being lucky commenter #29 and winning a Cuisinart 4-Cup Elite Collection Chopper/Grinder. Kristen said:
"The last thing I made was homemade meatballs."