More good eats

I attended an impromptu birthday party the other day and was asked at the last minute to bring "a sweet treat without chocolate." I perused one cookbook (my no bake cookie collection--soo useful) and got lemon curd on the brain, but then I decided I wanted to do lemon curd thumbprint cookies if I could find a recipe that wasn't too complicated. Oh my, are the recipes for thumbprint cookies complex? If you want, you can take hours making them, with several "firings" and complicated filling regimes. However, I was successful in locating the kind of recipe I wanted, simple, straightforward, and delicious. And here it is, along with my additions (did you think I wasn't going to make changes??):

Thumbprint Cookies

¼ cup butter, room temperature (or margarine, which I used)
½ cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk
¼ cup cornstarch
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup pecans chopped finely (optional)
lemon curd or jam

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cream together butter, sugar and salt. Beat in vanilla, milk and cornstarch. Stir in flour and pecans if using until just combined.

Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and make a shallow indentation with your thumb. Fill indentation with a bit of curd or jam.

Bake tarts for 12-13 minutes, until cookies just start to brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 2 dozen.


The party guests declared them a success, and the husband loved them, though J, after expressing all kinds of enthusiasm for "lemon bird" decided in the end he really didn't like them after all. Typical!