Classic Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and line your pans

   Set a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 350°F (175°C). Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Don't skip the parchment — jam that escapes a well will weld itself to a bare pan.

2. 2

   Cream the butter and sugar

   Beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is pale and noticeably fluffy. Scrape the bowl down once partway through. You want air in here, but you're not making a cake batter — stop when it looks like soft frosting.

3. 3

   Add the yolks and extracts

   Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla and almond extract, mixing just until the dough looks smooth and uniformly yellow. Yolks alone (no whites) are what give these cookies their sandy, melt-away shortbread texture.

4. 4

   Mix in the flour

   Whisk the flour and salt together in a separate bowl, then add it to the butter mixture in two additions on low speed. Mix only until the last dry streaks disappear. The dough will look crumbly at first and then pull together into a soft, pliable mass — overmixing past that point makes the cookies tough.

5. 5

   Roll and shape

   Scoop level tablespoons of dough (about 22g each) and roll each into a smooth ball between your palms. If you want sparkly edges, roll each ball in the extra granulated sugar. Space them about 2 inches apart on the lined sheets — these barely spread, so you can fit roughly 14 per pan.

6. 6

   Press the wells

   Press a well into the center of each ball using your thumb or the rounded back of a half-teaspoon measuring spoon, going about halfway down. Go slowly; if the edges crack, pinch them gently back together with your fingers. A well with cracked walls will leak jam in the oven.

7. 7

   Chill the shaped cookies

   Slide the sheets into the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or the freezer for 15. Chilled dough holds its well instead of slumping, and the cookies come out thicker with cleaner edges. This is the single step that separates neat thumbprints from flat ones.

8. 8

   Fill with jam

   Stir the jam until it's loose and spoonable, then drop about 1/2 teaspoon into each well — full, but not domed above the rim. If your jam is very loose or chunky, warm it briefly and press it through a sieve first so it sets rather than runs.

9. 9

   Bake

   Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the pan front to back halfway through. They're done when the bottom edges are light golden and the tops still look pale and matte. The centers will seem soft — that's right, they firm up as they cool.

10. 10

    Cool and set

    If any wells have puffed shut, gently re-press them with the measuring spoon within the first minute out of the oven. Let the cookies sit on the hot pan for 5 minutes to firm up, then move them to a rack. The jam stays molten longer than you'd think, so give them at least 20 minutes before stacking or tasting.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Butter temperature matters more than anything else here: it should be cool to the touch and hold a fingerprint, around 65°F. Greasy, over-soft butter makes the cookies spread and the wells collapse.

• 2.

  Thick preserves hold their shape; thin jelly bubbles over. Raspberry, apricot, sour cherry, and fig all bake beautifully, and a pinch of lemon zest stirred into the jam sharpens the flavor.

• 3.

  For a different look, roll the balls in lightly beaten egg white and then finely chopped pecans or walnuts before pressing the wells — the nuts toast as the cookies bake.

• 4.

  Fillings that shouldn't be baked — lemon curd, dulce de leche, salted caramel, chocolate ganache — go into the wells after the cookies have cooled completely. Bake those shells empty.

• 5.

  A half-teaspoon measuring spoon makes a rounder, more even well than a thumb, and it keeps your hands clean. A wine cork works too.

• 6.

  Shaped, unfilled dough balls freeze well for 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, adding 2 minutes to the time, and fill the wells right before they go into the oven.

Equipment

• Stand mixer or hand mixer
• Two rimmed baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• 1-tablespoon cookie scoop
• 1/2-teaspoon measuring spoon
• Wire cooling rack
• Kitchen scale

Storage