I had these at my friend Melanie's house, and they are definitely going to be one that we make every year!
Yield: Approx. 32 cookies
Source: All Recipes - Apricot Cream Cheese Thumbprints
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 large lemon (2 Tbsp. juice and 1 1/2 tsp. zest)
- 4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup fruit preserves (I used Smucker's Simply Fruit Apricot and Red Raspberry)
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, soften cream cheese.
- Add sugar and softened butter.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Beat eggs, one at a time, into cream cheese mixture.
- Zest one large lemon.
- Add to cream cheese mixture.
- Squeeze 1/2 lemon for juice.
- Add 2 Tbsp. lemon juice and stir well.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
- Add combined dry ingredients to cream cheese mixture in small amounts mixing well.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until dough is firm.
- Scoop out 1 Tbsp. dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Continue until all the dough is shaped.
- Place the dough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Gently press your thumb into the center of each dough ball, leaving an indentation.
- Turn your thumb and press again for a more uniform cavity.
- Spoon 1/2 tsp. preserves into the center of each cookie. Place the cookie sheet into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Note: I prefer a softer cookie, so I do not bake them until the edges turn golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet. Then place them on a wire rack to cool thoroughly. When packing them into a container, I recommend not stacking them directly on top of each other, as they will stick together.
