Thumbprint Cookies

I was making these cookies following this recipe. The cookies themselves look like a real hard work, but the fact is it was really fun to make. And it's not too tough to get to perfect result.

I used hazelnuts to cover the little dough balls. The skinning of the hazelnuts might be the most painful part. A little trick to make it less so is to walk away from the toasted hazelnuts for at least 30 mins. The nut oil will then be allowed to cool while the nut meat will return to its original size. If you rush to remove the skin right after the nuts have been taken out from the oven, the oil will adhere the skin to nuts, making it nearly impossible to remove.

(makes 20 cookies)
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, soften
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg, separated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup strawberry jam

Directions:
Preheat over to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat just until combined. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 mins.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Place the chopped nuts on a plate. Roll the dough into 1" balls. Working 1 ball at a time, dip the ball into the egg white and then lightly roll in the nuts. Place on the baking sheet spacing about 1" apart. Using your thumb, make a tiny well in the center of each cookies and fill with about 1/4 tsp of jam.

Bake for about 13-15 mins, or until cookies are set and the nuts have nicely browned. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.