Thumbprint Cookies
Aged goat cheese and walnuts take these traditional jam-filled cookies to new heights. They are a little sweet and a little savory and pretty as a picture. Use Lamb Chopper® for a delicate cheese flavor or Midnight Moon® for a more savory aged cheese note. Both are excellent! Experiment with different preserves or fruit spread fillings, or even chutneys.
Ingredients
Serves: 40 to 45 cookies| 2 cups (255 grams) | unbleached all-purpose flour |
| 1 ½ cups (150 grams) | walnut pieces |
| ¼ cup (50 grams) | granulated sugar |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 1 ¼ cup loosely packed (4 ounces/113 grams) | Lamb Chopper® or Midnight Moon® cheese, coarsely shredded |
| 12 tbsp (170 grams) | unsalted butter, softened |
| powdered sugar, optional for sprinkling | |
| About ¼ cup | raspberry (or other) preserves |
| Equipment | |
|---|---|
| Food processor fitted with steel blade | |
| 2 | cookie sheets, lined with parchment paper |
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325°F. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Put the flour, walnuts, granulated sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the cheese and the butter in several chunks. Process until the mixture looks damp and forms a soft dough. Remove the blade and use your hands to blend any stray flour at the bottom of the bowl into the dough.
Shape slightly rounded tablespoons of dough into scant 1 1/4-inch balls and place them 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets. Press the end of a wooden spoon or your thumb halfway into each ball, making a well to fill with jam later. Bake cookies for 20 to 24 minutes, until they are lightly colored on top and golden brown underneath. Rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Set the pans on racks and let cookies cool completely. (Once cool, unfilled cookies may be stored in an airtight container for one week.)
Shortly before serving, sift a little powdered sugar over each cookie (if desired) with a fine strainer. Fill the depression in each cookie with preserves.
