Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints

The Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints from Allrecipes are my favorite kind of cookies. It's a simple kind of recipe that doesn't use many ingredients but does require a bit more work than the average cookie since one would have to make the thumbprint to fill it with jam. However, these are worth it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, unsoftened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. 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. Use a 1/2 teaspoon to make a small hole in the center of each ball, and fill the hole with preserves.
3. Before baking the cookies, place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 10 minutes.
4. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.

Cream together butter and sugar. Cut up the butter to make the process easier.

The dough slowly coming together.

Cookies before the raspberry stage.

It's important to freeze it before baking it off so that the cookie doesn't lose its shape.

After the oven.

This is definitely one of my keeper recipes. They are perfect as a gift, for a late-afternoon snack with coffee or even by itself. Enjoy!