Thumbprint Cookies

I suppose I have a little bit of an obsession with butter.  A friend asked me for a banana bread recipe the other day and after receiving the recipe replied "I like any recipe that involves a 1/2 pound of butter".  I'm not sure if she was joking or not but I realize that most people might be a little shocked at the copious amounts of butter I use in all recipes.  This recipe is no different as you can see....half a pound of butter to only two cups of flour does seem like a lot; but I guarantee these cookies are to die for and worth every single calorie!

 So you will notice that you need to use a vanilla bean in the recipe.  If you would rather use vanilla extract you can but the vanilla bean is just so yummy in these cookies...pretty too as you can see all the little seeds in the cookies!

I love to fill my thumbprint cookies with raspberry jam but my son Max always fills his with Nutella or homemade hot fudge sauce!  

Thumbprint Cookies

1/2 pound butter, softened at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, soft insides scraped out

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 cup raspberry, apricot, or another jam, Nutella, or lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the vanilla scrapings and salt and mix until incorporated.  Add the flour and mix at low speed until incorporated.  

Using your hands, roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and arrange them 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Using your thumb, press the top of each cookie to make a shallow well.  Fill the wells with jam.  

Bake until very lightly browned around the edges, about 12 minutes.  Let cool on the pan and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!