Serious Eats: Sweets
Cookie Monster: Blueberry Thumbprints
I never thought I'd want fatter thumbs. You see, I have long, thin fingers. "Piano player's hands," my mother always called them—and rather wistfully, since I never actually played the piano. But when making these deliciously buttery, jam-filled thumbprints I found my thumbs to be decidedly lacking in circumference.
Still, that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying these gem-like cookies, which are as pretty as they are delicious. The base is a dense butter shortbread. A mix of almond and regular flour gives imparts a bit of nuttiness and creates a satisfying chew.
Each cookie is filled with blueberry jam, and the choice of jam is an important one. I found that my preferred brand for toast, Bonne Maman, was too loose and made the dough soggy. Jellies like Polaner were too dense and had a diluted, artificial flavor. In the end, Hero blueberry preserves worked really well. The tiny berries provided a nice texture without being too lumpy, and the surrounding jam was thick enough to set well in the cookies. And you know, I've been eating so many of these that my problem of thin fingers might soon be solved.
