My contribution to the first Thanksgiving dinner of the season was sweet potato casserole (eh, it’s good but I wasn’t crazy about it this year) and thumb print cookies. I really made the cookies just because I wanted them and then decided to take them along because they don’t stay fresh very long. My motives were not very altruistic in nature.

I used a recipe that I stole borrowed from Juju’s sister when we were wee little lassies just learning how to bake in our mother’s kitchens.  This was before I even knew what a “thumb print” cookie was and I ingeniously titled the recipe “Jelly Circle Cookies”.  Quite creative of me, don’t you think?  Thanks Mom, for all those Sunday afternoons you let me trash the kitchen and burn something in your oven.  I wouldn’t be the accomplished baker I am today without all of those trial and error sessions with the kitchen window open so the smoke wouldn’t overpower us.  And I learned how to put out a grease fire at an early age, which is a very useful thing to know.

Jelly Circle Cookies

 1 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 c flour

1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.  Add flour and salt.  Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I use a small scoop and a baking stone). Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.  Push in center of cookie with spoon and add jelly (I used apricot and seedless black raspberry preserves from here).  Bake 7 more minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Scarf down as many as you can before they disappear.  Apricot preserves count as a serving of fruit, right?