Cherry Pecan Thumbprint Cookies

In the past week or two I’ve been talking about cookies a lot.

I can’t help it. ‘Tis the season and all, right?

Here’s the thing. Cookies are pretty easy to make as far as baked goods go. They’re small, you can make quite a bit, and they’re fairly inexpensive. Technically there’s butter, sugar, flour, baking soda, powder or both, maybe some spices, some nuts or chips, sometimes some salt. Pretty much all of these are ingredients typically found in an average kitchen.

That’s precisely why I love them.

Deep down, I’m a baker at heart. When I’m stressed out, or need to sort my thoughts, I love to bake. Cooking can be done without measuring, for the most part. A little of this, a little of that. But when it comes to baking there’s a certain technical aspect. The way the ingredients react to one another allows whatever it is you’re baking to rise or puff. If it doesn’t work properly because you’ve used too much flour or old baking soda, it’s up to you to do your own version of tech support.

That’s what happened to me way back when I first attempted these thumbprint cookies. The first time I ever tried my hand at them they turned out thick and puffy, they spread all over my cookie sheet and the fruit middle kind of ran everywhere. The next time I tried them, they turned flat as a pancake, were greasy, and the fruit ran everywhere again. The good news is that both times they tasted great! They just weren’t very appealing and I wouldn’t have won any cookie contests.

I’ve finally perfected my recipe though, and I just love these cookies. They smell like Christmas. Between the pecans and the cherry preserves filling, and then the maple glaze on top… oh my! The fun thing about thumbprint cookies is they don’t use a lot of the ingredients a lot of other cookies use. There’s no baking powder, no baking soda, no salt, no spices. Just butter, sugar, egg yolk, flour and a bit of extract. Roll them in some chopped pecans after dipping in egg whites, then dot the middle with a bit of cherry preserves and viola! Like magic, they come together beautifully!

When my friend Natasha at Houseful of Nicholes came up with the idea of a #HousefulOfCookies series with various bloggers participating and sharing their own fun cookie recipes, I was all in. I knew that this was just the recipe for me to share too, and if you check the end of the post after the directions you can find plenty of other fun cookie recipes as well. Happy baking!

Ingredients for Cherry Pecan Thumbprint Cookies:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons Pure Black Sweet Cherry Preserves*

Ingredients for Maple Cookie Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 1 teaspoon Maple Extract*

Directions:

Begin by creaming the butter with the sugar in a stand mixer*. Once creamy add the egg yolk and vanilla extract. (Leave egg white in a bowl and reserve, you’ll need it later!)

After the egg and vanilla are mixed well into the creamed sugar, slowly pour in the flour a bit at a time while continuing to mix on low.

Once mixture has come together, cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, let cookie mix sit for a few minutes at room temperature after removing from the refrigerator and before handling. Using a cookie dropper, measure cookies into a ball, then split in half. Roll into a ball a little smaller than one inch, then roll in egg white. Have chopped pecans in a separate bowl to roll them in.

Place the cookie balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Once all cookies are rolled out, carefully press into the middle with a finger or the bottom end of a wooden spoon. Carefully spoon about 1/4 teaspoon of preserves into the centers.

Bake for 15 minutes, cookies should be golden and fruit center will be slightly runny, they will firm up as the cookie cools. Place on cooling racks.

Mix the powdered sugar, milk and maple extract in a small mixing bowl and carefully drizzle over cooled cookies.

Be careful to let these cookies cook completely. Sometimes the fruit center will still be warm and the cookies will be cooled. Serve once cooled.

Enjoy!

What’s your favorite kind of cookie? See if you like any of these.

Houseful of Nicholes: Nutty White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Journey Of 1000 Stitches: Christmas Cookie Tree 
Allie Ferriera: Chocolate Peppermint Cake Cookies 
My Crafty Life: Chocolate Chip Waffle Dunkers 
Rosie Discovers: Oreos That Beg to be Swapped  
Hysterical Mom: Festive Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 
Diva With A Purpose: Easy Peasy Cookies Supreme 
Crayons & Collars: Homemade Puppermint Dog Treats 
So Rae. Me – Gluten Free Bourbon, Cranberry and Almond Cookies 
Mama Knows It All: Granola Chocolate Cookies 
Mama Harris’ Kitchen: Cherry Pecan Thumbprint Cookies

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