Roasted Almond Thumbprints Recipes

RASPBERRY AND ALMOND SHORTBREAD THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
• Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

ALMOND THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse almonds, sugar, matzo cake meal, and salt in a food processor until finely ground. (Be careful not to grind to a paste.) Transfer to a bowl and stir in butter, egg, and extracts until combined well. Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 30 minutes.
• While dough chills, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Drop level tablespoons of dough 1 inch apart onto 2 ungreased baking sheets. Roll dough into balls, then chill until slightly firm, about 10 minutes. Make a 1/2-inch-wide (1/3-inch-deep) indentation in center of each ball using your thumb, index finger, or the rounded end of a wooden spoon. Fill each indentation with 1/4 teaspoon jam and bake, 1 sheet at a time, until tops are pale golden and undersides are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack and cool completely.

ROASTED ALMONDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
• Roast almond mixture until lightly toasted and skins are just beginning to split (about 20 minutes).
• Let cool.

ALMOND CARAMEL THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer equipped with the paddle attachment-the one that looks like the peace sign-and beat until creamy and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks and almond extract and beat for another minute or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped almonds.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. When combined, the dough should be soft and homogeneous. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm.
• When you're ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into 3/4-inch balls. Place the balls about 1 inch apart on a prepared baking sheet. Using the tip of your thumb, make a hole as deep as you can in each doughball without actually poking through the bottom. Roll your thumb around a little bit to widen the hole-this is your thumbprint!
• Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes or until they begin to turn golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool. While the cookies are cooling, repoke each one with your thumb to create a really nice spot for the caramel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• For the caramel: In a medium saute pan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Bring the pan to medium-high heat. Be careful not to swish the pan around as that can cause the sugar to recrystallize. As the mixture boils, the water will evaporate and the sugar will begin to turn brown, or "caramelize." This is the point when you DO NOT want to take your eyes off it! Things can take a turn for the worse here and there will be no recovery. As the sugar begins to turn gold and move toward golden brown, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream. As you do this it will bubble up like crazy. Be sure to use a pan large enough to accommodate the bubbling-this stuff is molten and can cause a very severe burn. Whisk the cream until things settle down and the bubbles subside, then add the butter 2 pats at a time, making sure each addition is thoroughly incorporated before adding more.
• Let the caramel cool slightly, then spoon it into the hole of each cookie and let cool. You'll most likely have leftover caramel sauce, so save it for something yummy-like pouring over vanilla ice cream!

ROASTED ALMOND THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Place racks in lower and upper thirds of the oven. Preheat to 375 F. Pulse flour and almonds in a food processor until almonds are finely ground. Add baking powder and salt. Pulse to blend. Using an electric(not a hand) mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light & fluffy, about 4 min. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until pale & fluffy, about 4 min. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients.Mix to just combine. Place sanding sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out dough by a tablespoon full and roll into balls.(If dough is sticky, chill 20 min) Roll the balls in the sugar and place on the lined cookie sheets, spacing 2" apart. Using your thumb, make a deep indent in each ball. (For more exaggerated cracks, bake dough for 5 min before indenting). Bake, rotating cookie sheets halfway through cooking time, until golden...12-14 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool. Fill the indentations with jam or curd with a small spoon. *Cookies can be baked ahead (but not filled) by 2 weeks- wrap tightly & freeze. Cookies can be filled 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

CHOCOLATE-ALMOND THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well., Place almonds in a shallow bowl. Roll dough into 1-in. balls; roll in almonds. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Add almond paste and beat until crumbly. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, water and meringue powder until smooth. Pipe filling into cookies, about 1-1/4 teaspoons in each. Store in an airtight container.

HONEY-ROASTED PEANUT THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together 1 cup peanuts and 1/2 cup flour until the nuts are coarsely ground. Pulse in remaining flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg, then add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Pulse in the egg yolks, vanilla extract and zest. Continue to pulse until the dough is well combined and starts to clump (but doesn't form a ball).
• Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, form the mixture into 1-inch balls.
• Put the egg whites in a shallow bowl, then beat them lightly with a fork until frothy. Put the remaining 2/3 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts in another shallow bowl, and stir in the salted, roasted peanuts.
• Dunk each ball of dough first in egg whites, then in the nuts, rolling to coat the balls well. Place the balls on the baking sheets 2 inches apart. Using your thumb, press an indentation in the center of each round of dough.
• Using a small spoon (an espresso spoon works well), fill the indentations with jam. Bake until the edges of the cookies are just golden, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

ALMOND THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• For cookies:.
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Beat in the flour, extract and salt.
• Stir in the pecans.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Make thumbprint in each cookie.
• Bake at 300°F for 20-30 minutes.
• Let cool.
• For Icing:.
• Mix all Icing ingredients and thin with a little milk if needed , to make a smooth icing . You may add a drop or two of food color to tint the icing . Fill cooled cookies with icing.