Thumbprint Cookies

My all time favorite cookies/biscuits are from Venus bakery in Jaipur. Along with mom's hand made ladoo and mathri, Rawat misthan's pyaz kachori, I would always have them in my suitcase when I went back to the hostel in middle school after holidays and to all the other subsequent hostels thereafter:) I was introduced to these cookies by my sister like the other zillion things in my life :) Since both my sister and brother were also at hostel's at that time, all the goodies would get divided in to three parts. Even now, mummy makes three packets of anything that even one of us asks her to bring and obviously has hard time packing them in suitcases!
One of my Italian friend brought homemade cookies called "thumbprint" cookies around Christmas sometime back. As soon as I saw them, Venus bakery biscuits started floating in front of my eyes and I knew what cookie recipes I have to look for :) I really love the shape and size of these cookies. After searching for various recipes, I finally made the recipe here and really liked them.

Yield: 36 cookies
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (unsifted)
1/4 cup raspberry preserve (or any other preserve of choice)

- Soften the butter either by keeping it out of refrigerator for long or heating it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds (make sure that you check after 10 seconds)
- Cream butter, egg yolks, and sugar together
- Gradually add flour (about 1/2 cup at a time) to the above cream mixture to make a smooth dough with no lumps
- Make approximately 36 (1") balls out of the dough and flatten them little bit and place them on a greased cookie sheet at about 2 inches apart. You will need about two cookie sheets
- With your finger, make a small well in the center of the cookies and put about 1/4 tsp of preserve/jam in the center
- Place the cookies sheet in refrigerator to set for 10-15 mins
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for about 10-15 minutes (original recipe required about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown at the bottom but for me it took about 15 minutes perhaps because I kept them in the refrigerator for 10-15 mins)
- Enjoy these wonderful cookies and I hope they last longer in your Kitchen!

I am all excited to tryout some variations in these with nuts as filling and also in the dough :)