Finally, here is the recipe for all of you. Birds Nest Cookies - a.k.a. Bright Eyed Susans, a.k.a. Thumbprint cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespooons water
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg yolk
Almonds - sliced or chopped - your call.
Jam of choice for centres
Jam of choice for centres
*oven 350 F
Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add water, extract and egg yolk. Sift flour and baking powder. Add to butter mixture. Form into balls about the size of walnuts. Roll balls in nuts. Place on parchment paper on cookie sheet.
Find the cutes assistant you can to poke holes in your cookies. When cute assistant is not looking, and is proud of all her pokes, fix them to accomodate a teaspoon, or more, of jam. Bake cookies in the oven for 5 minutes - without the jam. Remove from oven - now drop in the jam. Place back in oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes.
Let cool then watch cute assistant with her Mexico Grandpa enjoy. (She calls him Mexico Grandpa as he lives there half the year teaching art and painting) She actually pronounces it Matchco Grandpa.
photo by Janis Nicolay
Watch out for little sneaky seconds stealers.
