I signed up to help with the  high school homecoming tailgate and of course I volunteered to bake cookies. Wanting to support the home team in their blue and gold,  I came up with thumbprint cookies filled with blue and gold jam. While I prefer raspberry jam in my thumbprints, I went with blueberry and peach flavors. Go Team.

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Game Day Thumbprint Cookies

  • Servings: 16 cookies
  • Difficulty: very easy
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 C. unsalted  softened butter
  • 3 T sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. vanilla
  • Generous pinch of salt
  • 1 C. all purpose flour
  • 2-3 T team colored preserves

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in medium bowl until mixture is light and fluffy.
  3. Add the flour and slowly mix just until it’s blended and the dough is smooth.
  4. Roll about a teaspoon on dough in your hand and place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
  5. While the dough is in your palm, press down your thumb to create an indent in the center (option to do this with the cookie on the pan, but I was worried that it would stick the cookie to the pan. Probably not something to worry about so do what is easiest).
  6. Fill the cookies with preserves of choice
  7. Bake for 10 minutes until cookie is just beginning to brown.  Cool and take to the game.

Notes:  

  • These cookies really need the jam to sweeten them up.  My son likes them better when the indent in the center leaves very little edge on the cookie (he’s prefer a saucer shape indent rather than a cereal bowl shape — slanted edges with very little rim). If you do this, there is jam on almost all of the cookie which my taste tester says is better!
  • This is a pretty small batch so I usually end up doubling it.
  • Electric beaters or a mix-master is helpful but not required. Just make sure the sugar is as dissolved as you can get it and the dough (before the flour) is added is fluffy.
  • The jam does not usually overflow so feel free to fill the indent to the rim. This is what my unbaked cookies looked like:2cookies_uncooked

Credits

Thanks to William-Sonoma Kitchen Library for Kids Cookies: Scrumptious Cookies for Bakers 9 to 13 published in 1998.   I’ve baked many of the cookies and bars in this book – sometimes with my kids, and sometimes just because I’m in a hurry and these recipes are simple but taste great.

A tray ready for baking:

cookie_sheet