1/4 cup jam or jelly (I didn't measure this, just used the spoon to scoop it directly from jar to cookie)
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 egg's worth of egg substitute
1 1/2 tsp dried orange zest
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mix butter & sugar together until it's a little light & fluffy. Mix in egg substitute, orange zest, lemon juice, and vanilla; mix until it's combined & fluffier. Mix together dry ingredients, add to the wet mixture. Put a silicone mat on a baking sheet. Make 1 inch balls of dough, put them on the sheet -- they'll only expand a little bit, so leave a little space but you probably only need about an inch between cookies. If you have a round 1/2 tsp measuring spoon, it works really well for making the "thumbprints" -- otherwise, just use your thumb!
I stuck the whole first tray in the freezer for about 10 minutes once I'd assembled it, and that worked wonderfully. The second batch didn't work out as well. I just made balls of dough & put them back in the bowl in the fridge until the pan was free again. What I didn't realize is that this dough gets really solid when it's chilled, so I couldn't shape it until I'd let it warm up a bit on the pan. Even then, the cookies cracked, which led to the jelly spilling out of some of them while baking. Maybe use two pans & stick one in the freezer while the other is baking? Or find another way to shape the cookies before you chill them?
Bake for 6 minutes at 350, then take out & add your jam/jelly to fill the divots (if you used the measuring spoon, now's the time to use it again -- 1/2 tsp is the perfect amount of filling for these cookies). Bake for another 10 minutes or so, until the bottoms just barely start to brown.
Cool on racks & enjoy!
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| First batch turned out beautifully |
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| Second batch was less beautiful but still good |
