Secret Recipe Bonus: Strawberry-Almond Thumbprint Cookies

So.
While the Secret Recipe Club is done for this year, an offer came out that I couldn't refuse.
You remember the Secret Recipe Club, right?  The group where I'm given a blog to stalk and make something so we can all reveal at the same time?  It's a great way to meet new people and make some delicious recipes!
When someone suggested that we have a virtual cookie exchange along the same lines amongst all members of the group who were interested, I signed up.  And that's how I became involved in the SRC Cookie Carnival.

I was excited to see who my partner would be!  Much like my reveal earlier this month, I returned to an old friend.  The email with my partner sent me to Anna's blog, Cheese with Noodles.  Back in June, I made Anna's Dreamy Baked Ziti for a Reveal Day.  I was excited to have another look and find a cookie recipe to try.
I considered a couple of the sandwich cookie recipes before deciding on these thumbprint cookies.  I'd never made thumbprints, but the premise seemed simple enough, and I could use my strawberry jam that I made this summer!  Shortbread and jam...how could that possibly be bad?
I present to you now Cheese with Noodles' Strawberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies:

Ingredients:
1 c butter, softened
2/3 c sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 c flour
1/2 c strawberry jam
1/2 c sanding sugar

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and extract.  Stir in flour, being careful to not over mix.
3.  Roll dough into 1-1/2" balls, roll in the sanding sugar, and place 2" apart on the baking sheets.  Carefully make a large thumbprint in the middle of each cookie (not too large!) and fill with jam.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until the cookies are golden.  Let cool completely before removing to a cooling rack.

From Cheese with Noodles

Homemade jam and sparkly sugar!  So yummy!  I was afraid my jam hadn't set this summer, and that I'd made really good ice cream sauce.  Seeing as this is the first jar I've opened, I'm happy to report that it set.  It's delicious, too.

Perhaps I made the cookies a little big (I only got 18), and I might have under-filled them, but I was afraid of boil-over.  I found the dough cracked badly when I pressed my thumb into the cookie.  I reshaped a bit so that the jam wouldn't run off.

And here's the final product!  I liked the crunch that the sanding sugar gave, and the very subtle almond flavour.  Thanks Anna!  These were winners!

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