Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

These tender, buttery cookies are bejeweled with sweet and tangy raspberry preserves. Fresh out of the oven, these cookies melt in your mouth. Just be careful because the preserves will be hot!

My family has been making these cookies for Christmas for over 30 years. Our recipe is adapted from Woman's Day Collector's Cookbook. We don't have the whole cookbook, just one of the monthly installments that my mom pulled from the magazine. Here is what the tattered, loved, spilled-upon sheets of paper look like today:

No worries, I've typed up all the recipes so that we don't lose any information to stains or tears! Also, my "Sour Cream Crescents" come straight out of these pages. They are such unique recipes!


Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Rich, short cookies topped with jam

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour

Seedless Raspberry Preserves


Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour and, if necessary, chill until firm enough to handle. With floured hands, roll in 1” balls. Put 1 and ½ inches apart on cookie sheets. Lightly flour your thumb, and make a small indentation in center of each cookie. Fill with raspberry preserves. Bake in preheated 325 degreeoven about 15-20 minutes. Cool on racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Here is what the cookies should look like when you're molding the dough:

Here is what they will look like after you fill the thumbprints with the preserves:

Here is an exclusive sneak peak of the cookies baking in my extremely messy oven:

And here is what they look like when they are ready to eat!