This weekend was a blur. Between dinner parties, swim meets, running, and ballet performances, it is amazing that any laundry was done in our house and even more amazing that anything was actually produced in our kitchen. Luckily, my seven year old son was barred from video games for the weekend and decided to finish up his book, one in the Boxcar Children series (yes, kids still read those books).
At the end of the story, the author had provided little games and activities to add extra enticement to the series and that is where my son stumbled on the recipe for Jam-Filled Thumbprint Cookies.
"Can I make them, Mom? I won't even need your help," he asked.
"Sure, but you have to do it by yourself,", I said, as I casually looked at the ingredients list. "There is nothing there for him to get hurt on.", I thought to myself. I turned back to my collection of food magazines scattered on the bedroom floor and continued to plan meals for the week.
Not long after, the barrage of questions began. I started to hear him talking to himself and I realized that my baby boy had gotten in over his head.
"Mom, what does 3-4 (¾) mean?"
"Mom, it says 1 cup. Which cup am I supposed to use?"
"Mom, is the flour in the big white bag that says "salt" on it?"
"Mom, can you help me?"
His sweet pleading and his valiant effort was enough to pull me off the floor and into the flour filled kitchen to help. It was funny and endearing to see him checking and then double checking the recipe, measuring very precisely, and then wiping his messy hands all over his shorts. It was nice to be in the kitchen together; baking, because it was his idea, and not a project that I thought up. After a very few minutes of working together in the kitchen, he decided that he wanted me to finish the cookies so that he could watch TV. And so I did. It had been a long weekend.
Jam Filled Thumbprint Cookies
This must be the simplest recipe for thumbprint cookies ever invented. Only four ingredients, no mixing in a special order, perfect for kids. They actually turned out quite good too....the cookie is very buttery and dense and it counters the strawberry jam perfectly.
350 degrees, 15 minutes.
You will need:
¾ c butter melted
1 c sugar
3 cup flour
1 egg
your favorite jam
1. Melt the butter.
2. Add the sugar and egg. Mix together.
3. Add the flour. Mix until well combined.
4. Put dough in fridge for awhile. (We left ours in the fridge for a couple of hours while we went grocery shopping.)
5. Roll into 1 inch balls. Press indentations into each ball with your thumb.
6. Using a tiny spoon, fill each indentation with jam.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the jam is bubbly.
Let cool slighty and then feed to your amazing children!
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