I had originally planned to make some giant thumbprint cookies for our holiday open house last weekend; I even purchased some Bonne Maman cherry preserves to use for the recipe. However, I ended up cutting the cookies from the menu after I became a little pressed for time. With the jar of cherry preserves still sitting on the counter, I decided to make giant thumbprint cookies for our office holiday party a few days ago.
I made the dough, shaped it, and filled the cookies with the cherry preserves. When I took the cookies out of the oven, I was horrified to see that the preserves had run and leaked an ugly red puddle on a significant portion of the cookie. The image was slightly reminiscent of a bloodshot eyeball and I immediately thought that it looked like someone had punched the cookies in the face.
I was able to switch to Polaner apricot spreadable fruit for the rest of the cookies, which I baked without incident.
I do have to say, though, that the cherry cookies were really delicious. Those preserves are very flavorful, with bits of cherry skin included. Tom and I thoroughly enjoyed eating these homely rejects! It's just a shame that the consistency of the preserves doesn't hold up in the oven and results in a cookie too ugly to leave the house.
Recipe: "Giant Thumbprint Cookies" from Butter Sugar Flour Eggs: Whimsical Irresistible Desserts, by Gale Gand.
Previous Posts:
I made the dough, shaped it, and filled the cookies with the cherry preserves. When I took the cookies out of the oven, I was horrified to see that the preserves had run and leaked an ugly red puddle on a significant portion of the cookie. The image was slightly reminiscent of a bloodshot eyeball and I immediately thought that it looked like someone had punched the cookies in the face.
I was able to switch to Polaner apricot spreadable fruit for the rest of the cookies, which I baked without incident. 
I do have to say, though, that the cherry cookies were really delicious. Those preserves are very flavorful, with bits of cherry skin included. Tom and I thoroughly enjoyed eating these homely rejects! It's just a shame that the consistency of the preserves doesn't hold up in the oven and results in a cookie too ugly to leave the house. Recipe: "Giant Thumbprint Cookies" from Butter Sugar Flour Eggs: Whimsical Irresistible Desserts, by Gale Gand.
Previous Posts:
- "A Lasting Impression: Giant Thumbprint Cookies," February 24, 2009.
- "I'll Take Foods That Start With the Letter Q, Alex," August 13, 2009.
Comments
I know that you like land o lakes butter. Is it ever better to use shortening? I've been trying to find the best snickerdoodle recipe (my dad's favorite) but they all seem to use shortening. Seems "lesser" to me for some reason to use shortening. What do you think about this?
Shortening is arguably better for some applications, like a pie crust, where it helps provide a very flaky texture. But butter has a yummy flavor and shortening does not (although they do sell "butter flavored" shortening now, so I'm not sure how that works). I very rarely use shortening, and my favorite snickerdoodle recipe (from Alice Medrich's "Cookies and Brownies") is all butter. If you email me at littlebakerbunny[at]yahoodotcom, I can send you the recipe next week!
Happy baking!