cookie escapism
I come from a long lineage of Jam makers. As a kid my mother and neighbor would make jars and jars of Raspberry, Marionberry, Strawberry, Peach… whatever they could get her hands on. Since I have been in Brooklyn Mom has mailed me jam ‘six-packs’ carefully packed for shipping in crocheted hot-pads and can-cozies. I wanted to make something delicious (and wanted to use some of my Oregon in a jar), so I made these Brown Sugar Thumbprints. So pretty and tasty. I rationalized the rampant use of sugar by using Muscovado and the result was a delicious molasses-y caramel-y tasting cookie.
I decided not to post this last holiday weekend (who wants to sit at a computer when it is so beautiful outside?) We had various adventures, including: chicken ala le Creuset / fire-escapism, all you can drink margaritas with Claire from P-Town, a failed attempt at gf/sugarfree/vegan macaroons (really scary) and a jaunt to Coney Island. Nonetheless, I have a big ole weekend on the horizon. Very serious buisness maintaining a food blog. Tyler and I did some ordering/research @ the marked this weekend. Here he is doing some affective memory work about saving someones life by feeding them organic clams. So good.
The much anticipated 24, 24, 24 summer feast is on Saturday and the post drops on Sunday. ALSO, I have been selected for this which sounds so exceptionally fun I can’t handle it, so its fast times here at Potato Candies. So, without further…
Brown Sugar Thumbprints
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 2 cups of natural brown sugar (I use Muscovado)
- 4 large eggs
- 5 cups Bob’s Redmill GF flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- (vanilla extract if you wish)
This is a big batch, cut it in half for a little batch of very petite cookies.
Loosely cut together butter and sugar. Add eggs. Sift dry ingredients into butter/sugar/egg mixture (fyi: you can use regular flour instead of GF with the same proportions). Combine until it forms a dough ball. Roll into about 20 bite sized balls. Cover and chill for 15 mins-1 hour. Arrange on a cookie sheet and every so slightly press down so they are just barely smushed. Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 10 mins or until relaxed and nearly done. Remove from oven and press your thumb gently into the center of the cookie making a little well for the jam. Tart jams taste best. After pressing and filling their little thumb prints, return cookies to oven for another 5-10 minutes or until jam appears slightly ‘jellied’ and the cookies are starting to brown. They are better slightly cooled than warm, and they are perfect with tea.
Num num, glub glub, tuck in…
a
if i use regular flour instead of GF, does it affect the amount or does it translate straight across? also, without lori as a jam-producing mother, do i have any chance of it turning out quite as well?
um. 1) yes. 2) no, absolutely not.
But you will have decent results if you don’t use anything too sweet.
There are some good jams on the market. The trick is to get a jam that is made with cane sugar not corn syrup. It requires some label reading, but there are several economical jams made with cane sugar. Especially if they are made in Canada.
A nice trick to jam-up store bought jam is to add a little fresh fruit of like and kind right before you eat it.
Something else to think about: you can make small batches of your own jam out of fresh or frozen fruit (even canned grape juice) without canning if you store it in the fridge and use it out of the fridge within a few weeks of its creation.
see, i told you. my mom is a jam ninja… and her grandmommet those that taught her went through tougher times than these. so her jammy ideas/skills are recession proof. good mommet’.
Hey sis–
Those look great!! are there any left? I’ll be there in 3 weekss…save a bit
)