Raspberry Jam Thumbprints

Ever found yourself desperate for an afternoon snack, staring vacantly at a vending machine and somehow ending up with these in your hand?

Today's cookies remind me of those, only a million times better. In case you want to do a taste test, here's the recipe, adapted from an adaptation. Or you could skip the taste test and trust me on this one.

Jam Thumbprints
1/2 cup raspberry jam
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.

Put the jam in a pastry bag, or in a heavy duty ziplock if you don't have a pastry bag. Ok, you don't even have to do that if you don't want to. But if you're going to fill trays and trays of cookies with jam, it's going to be quicker and neater if you use the pastry bag or ziplock, instead of a spoon. Don't say I didn't warn you.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, egg & vanilla, and mix well. Be sure to scrape down the bowl occasionally.

Add the flour mixture and mix on "low" only until it forms a cohesive dough. Don't over-mix or you won't end up with tender cookies.

Roll the dough into little balls and make an indentation in the center of each one with your thumb, the end of a wooden spoon, or the bottom of a small (I used 1/2 tsp) measuring spoon.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are just beginning to set and are lightly browned around the edges, maybe 8 minutes. Take the cookie sheet from the oven and gently reshape the indentations.

Fill each indentation with a little squirt of jam and be grateful that you listened to me and didn't use a spoon to do it. Put the cookies back in the oven and continue baking until lightly golden -- oh, I don't know, probably 10 or 11 minutes, maybe 12? This is not a cookie to underbake.

Leave them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to firm up before you try to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Then enjoy them with your afternoon cherry blossoms.