"Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all"
                                        ~ Harriet van Horne

This Week's Featured Recipe

Peanut Butter & Jam Thumbprints

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (unsalted, natural is great)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup strawberry or raspberry preserves (or use your favorite flavor!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Cream butter and peanut butter together until light and fluffy.  Add brown sugar and beat until creamy.  Add egg, vanilla, flour and salt and mix until just combined . 

Form dough into small balls and place about 1" apart on cookie sheets.  Press your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon into the middle to form and indentation. 

Bake about 8 minutes, turn sheets and re-poke holes if necessary, then bake 6-8 minutes more until golden. Remove to rack to cool and fill with your favorite jam.

Some Sweet Notes:

Ok I confess, I LOVE peanut butter and jelly.  I'm always trying to find ways to incorporate peanut butter into recipes.  This one does not dissapoint.  It is as close to a PB&J as you can get in cookie form. :)

You can use natural peanut butter in this recipe - in fact I prefer it over commercial jarred peanut butter.  Teddie makes a great unsalted brand as does Trader Joe's and Whole Foods 365 brand.  I have had success with all three as well as the in-store ground peanut butter from Whole Foods and the Co-Op.

For a different flavor and texture, try using almond or cashew butter and varied flavors of jam (by all means, use your own home preserves if you make them!).  Almond butter lends a slightly sweeter, crunchier texture to the cookies while cashew butter is more subtle and creamy.  I love pairing almond butter with raspberry or fig jams and cashew butter is heaven with apricot or plum preserves.  I've even been known to fill them with chocolate ganache (think of it as an inside-out reese's peanut butter cup!).

It's a fairly straightforward recipe and lots of fun to make with kids.  They get a real kick out of rolling the dough into balls and filling them with jam.  One of my favorite classes had a 6 year old rolling the dough into a ball the size of a large softball.  To make the indentation he had to use his whole fist and we used almost a whole jar of jam.  He was so proud and excited and to see the smile on his face made my whole day.

I love to hear about all baking adventures, so please do send an email (holly@sweetthingfood.com )and let me know how it goes! :)

Eat Well and Nourish Your Soul!!

They are a great addition to a holiday cookie platter and, barring any nut allergies, whenever I serve them they fly off the plate.  Pour yourself a tall glass of cold moo and give them a try.