Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints
These peanut butter and jelly thumbprints are a simple peanut butter cookie indented in the middle and filled with preserves.
Ingredients
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup berry preserves I used half strawberry jam and half boysenberry
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the shortening, vanilla and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.
- Mix in the peanut butter, scraping the sides of the bowl after mixing.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and gradually add to the wet ingredients.
- Using tablespoonfuls of dough or a medium cookie scoop, form into a ball and place onto a cookie sheet.
- Using the back of a teaspoon, create an indentation in the center of each ball, simultaneously pressing lightly to flatten.
- Bake for 12 - 14 minutes until lightly golden and firm.
- Use the back of the teaspoon to recreate the "thumbprint" and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
- Using a 1/2 teaspoon, fill each cookie with the preserves. I like just a little jelly with my cookie. If you feel that 1/2 teaspoon is not enough, increase it to 3/4 teaspoon for each.
Notes
I divided the dough in half and only filled half the cookies with preserves as Mr. 365 likes his plain. The amount of preserves called for in the recipe reflects filling the total number of cookies made.