Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

From: Southern Living 50 Favorite Cookies cookbook

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup strawberry jam or grape jelly

Beat butter and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating well. Add egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture, mixing well.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten balls in a crisscross pattern with a floured fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool.

Spread jam on bottoms of half the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

Verdict:
Well, this is not my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. But sandwiched together with the jelly I actually really liked these. I used grape jelly and raspberry jam. I'd like these again, using a different peanut butter cookie recipe, perhaps.

Double Thumbprint Cookies

From: Here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups AP flour
1/4-1/3 cup cherry jam or preserves, or seedless raspberry preserves


Preheat oven to 375 degree F. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until mixture is combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.


Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. For each cookie on an ungreased or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet place 2 dough balls side by side with one side touching. Press thumbs into each ball to form an indentation in each. Press in center of each with thumb and taper bottom of cookie with fingers to form a heart shape. Repeat with remaining dough balls, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer cookies to a wire rack. While warm, fill each indentation with jam or preserves. Cool completely. Makes about 30 cookies.

 

Verdict:

Thumbs up! Although making the heart shape is a lot of trouble. It's cute for Valentine's Day or your anniversary, but for an everyday dessert, I say go with the regular one thumbprint cookie. Also, I prefer peanut butter jammies over these shortbread cookies, but to each his or her own. My mom loves the shortbread instead, so I like switching between recipes. :)

Strawberry Thumbprints

From: Family Circle

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup ground walnuts
2 cups AP flour
1/2 jar (12 oz) seedless strawberry jam

 Beat butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar, yolk, vanilla and salt until fluffy. Add walnuts and flour. Blend on low speed just until combined; dough will be crumbly but moist.

 Gather dough together with your hands to form a ball. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic, refrigerate for an hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with nonstick foil. Break off 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Roll ball in remaining 1/2 cup sugar to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet. Press a deep indentation into center of dough, large enough to hold 1/2 teaspoon jam. Fill indentation with jam; repeat.

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until lightly golden. Cool on pans for 5 minutes.

 What I did differently from the recipe:
Left out the walnuts because I didn't have any on hand.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Neutral. I have made many, many thumbprint cookie recipes in my day (i.e. these with sugar cookies, these with peanut butter, twists) and this was not my favorite. They were a good cookie, but the actual cookie tasted a lot like shortbread to me. Not a great taste unless you add the jam to it. I'd say my favorite of these so far is the peanut butter jammies. But you might love these! I would recommend you try them, especially if you like shortbread cookies!

Strawberry Thumbprints

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup ground walnuts
2 cups AP flour
1/2 jar (12 oz) seedless strawberry jam

  Beat butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar, yolk, vanilla and salt until fluffy. Add walnuts and flour. Blend on low speed just until combined; dough will be crumbly but moist. Gather dough together with your hands to form a ball. Divide dough in half; wrap in plastic, refrigerate for an hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with nonstick foil. Break off 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Roll ball in remaining 1/2 cup sugar to coat. Place on prepared baking sheet. Press a deep indentation into center of dough, large enough to hold 1/2 teaspoon jam. Fill indentation with jam; repeat. Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until lightly golden. Cool on pans for 5 minutes.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

From: Here

Ingredients:
1 3/4 sticks butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
10-12 ounce jar of strawberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan. Mix together the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the strawberry preserves. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.

What I did differently from the recipe:

First of all, I had to substitute the butter. We're on this awful, miserable, can't-stop-thinking-about-cheese dairy-free diet on doctor's orders. I actually had to go buy a butter alternative to cook with. Not as easy as it sounds. Turns out there's only one I could find - Fleischmann's. Just for future reference. Also, instead of strawberry preserves I used my homemade blackberry jam.

What I'll do differently next time:

Nothing.

Verdict:

Thumbs up! Oh my goodness, I never watch television but I just happened to turn on the TV this weekend for some mind-numbing fun while the kids napped (Stephen was working) and lo and behold, one of my "I want to be like her when I grow up!" people has a TV show! I never knew this because I never watch TV. Yes, that's right, Pioneer Woman has her own show on the Food Network. And I shall now DVR it forever and ever. Anyway, this was a recipe on the episode I watched and I just absoutely had to make it. I can't stop eating it at this moment and it is so absolutely delicious. Highly recommend it!

Blackberry Freezer Jam

From: Sure-Jell box

Ingredients:
3 cups crushed blackberries, about 6 cups whole blackberries
5 1/4 cups sugar
1 box Sure-Jell
3/4 cup water

Mash berries with a potato masher one cup at a time. Add sugar to crushed fruit. Stir and allow to sit for ten minutes. Put pectin and 3/4 C water into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Add mixture to berries and stir for about three minutes until sugar is dissolved. Pour into containers. Allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours to set. Keeps in the refrigerator for about three weeks or up to a year in the freezer.


I was cleaning out our freezer and came across all these blackberries that we picked with my parents last year. I thawed them out yesterday and decided I had enough to make jam. I've never made freezer jam before, only "pantry" jam, so we'll see how this turns out. It certainly looks yummy! And how easy was that!

Raspberry Almond Jammies

From: Womans Day

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup raspberry jam or seedless raspberry preserves

Heat oven to 350. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bown until light and fluffy. Add the egg and almond extract, and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. With floured hands, divide the dough into 8 portions, about 1/3 cup each, and roll into 3/4-inch thick logs (about 10 inches long); transfer to baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Using the handle of a long wooden spoon, make an indent down the length of each log and fill with the jam. Bake until the logs are set and lightly browned around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the logs to a cutting board and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut logs diagonally into 1-inch thick cookies.

What I did differently from this recipe:
Halved it as soon as I saw at the top of the recipe - "Makes 72." Yowza!! Also, I didn't have enough raspberry jam for this recipe so I used some raspberry-blackberry jam from Brevard's farmer's market. Yum! Thanks mom and dad!

What I'll do differently next time:
Really the only thing I'd change is I wish the indent down the length of the long was a little wider. There is more cookie than jam on most of the cookies and I love the jam more than the cookie. But that's just me!

Verdict:
Thumbs up! These were so fast to make and I absolutely love recipes where you already have everything on hand. So good!

Jam Twists

From: Betty Crocker's Creative Recipes with Bisquick

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk or cold water
1/3 cup jam, jelly or preserves
1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Heat oven to 450. Mix baking mix, sugar, egg and milk until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Gently smooth dough into ball on floured cloth-covered board. Knead 8 times. Roll dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches. Spread with jam.

Fold dough lengthwise into thirds; press edges together to seal securely. Cut into fifteen 1-inch strips. Twist ends of strips in opposite directions. Place on greased cookie sheet; press ends onto cookie sheet to fasten securely. Bake until light brown, 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing.

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs up. These were good, but I didn't think they were great. I wanted more jam than bread and it seemed like there was more bread than jam. I used blackberry and raspberry jam together and it was good. A little butter and the microwave made these better, I thought. These are definitely a good dessert or breakfast item (my favorite!) but I just thought they were a tiny bit dry.

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk or cold water
1/3 cup jam, jelly or preserves
1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Heat oven to 450. Mix baking mix, sugar, egg and milk until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Gently smooth dough into ball on floured cloth-covered board. Knead 8 times. Roll dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches. Spread with jam. Fold dough lengthwise into thirds; press edges together to seal securely. Cut into fifteen 1-inch strips. Twist ends of strips in opposite directions. Place on greased cookie sheet; press ends onto cookie sheet to fasten securely. Bake until light brown, 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter Jammies

From: ???

Ingredients:
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
jam/jelly

Place peanut butter, sugar and egg in bowl, beat. Add flour and stir. Shape into balls, place on cookie sheet. Press thumb into center. Chill 3 hours. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Spoon jam into centers.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Nothing really. I did use honey peanut butter because it's what I had on hand and it's delicious!

What I'll do differently next time:
Nothing.

Verdict:
Thumbs UP!! Can a recipe get any easier than this? As you can see, I used three different types of jams and jellies - raspberry, muscadine grape and pineapple. I'm sure any type of jam or jelly would be delicious in these. I did have to "reprint" my thumb when these came out of the oven because they had puffed up a bit. If you don't have a thumb you can use a spoon. Baby spoons are especially useful. Please note - these are great for that last minute "Was I supposed to bring something to that dinner party??" because surely everyone has these ingredients in their pantry and they literally take less than 20 minutes from start to finish if you don't refrigerate them before cooking.

Printable version:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
jam/jelly

Place peanut butter, sugar and egg in bowl, beat. Add flour and stir. Shape into balls, place on cookie sheet. Press thumb into center. Chill 3 hours. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Spoon jam into centers.

Jelly-Filled Thumbprints

Ingredients:
1 roll (18 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam or red currant jelly
1/3 cup white vanilla chips

Heat oven to 350. Into large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir in coconut.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. With thumb or spoon handle, make indentation in center of each cookie. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon jam into each indentation.


Bake 10-13 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.


Into small resealable food-storage plastic bag, place vanilla chips; seal bag. Microwave for 30-45 seconds. Squeeze bag until chips are smooth. Microwave longer if necessary. Cut a small hole in bottom corner of the bag. Squeeze the bag gently to drizzle melted chips over cookies.

What I did differently from the recipe:
Instead of a roll of sugar cookies, I bought the Ready to Bake. They were cheaper and made 8 more cookies. I didn't put coconut in the cookies, partially because I don't like coconut and partially because I didn't have time to run to the health food store to buy just a cup of coconut. And the store I went to didn't sell vanilla chips, so I used white chocolate.

What I'll do differently next time:
I would like to try them with vanilla chips, or maybe a different jelly. These were so good, but they can easily be changed to your taste. You could use peanut butter cookie mix instead of sugar, and they would become peanut butter and jelly cookies. Or try any type of jam or jelly besides the ones listed in the recipe.

Verdict:
Thumbs up!! Super easy and really tasty!