second and edgemont

creating space for beauty & simplicity

  • About
  • Gallery
    • Garden
    • Home

Thumbprints

January 13, 2018

Many moons ago when I was studying agriculture as a farm apprentice I became close friends with my bunk mate Ian. Ian and I didn’t have much in common at first other than the desire to learn how to grow vegetables but we quickly realized that what we did both love was food.  When we weren’t out in the fields, we spent most of our time together in the kitchen. And when we weren’t in the kitchen we spent most of our time out in the fields talking about food. We spent hours chatting about our favorite family recipes and perusing through cookbooks, dog-earing new recipes to try. But what we spent most of our time together doing was baking.

We would make our tried and true favorite baked goods for each other and the other bunk mates to sample. We’d experiment and critique new recipes. I distinctly remember being so excited at making a successful batch of homemade fig newtons that year and falling in love with a sesame benne wafer. There were always fresh baked goods to nibble on in the farm house or wrapped up to pass out at break time in the fields. That year felt a bit like The Great British Baking Show. I never baked so much in my life and I learned so much from Ian.

Prior to the farm apprenticeship, Ian had worked at The Pink Rose, a tea room in Philadelphia that I had visited frequently as a child but has since closed. When he left he took with him his favorite recipes which he shared with me that year, my favorite being the Thumbprint. This cookie is extremely buttery (made with 1 pound of butter!), rolled in crushed walnuts and filled with your favorite flavors of jam, the perfect cookie in my opinion. I made this particular batch with raspberry and ginger preserves. I am especially pleased with the ginger!

Ian and I still keep in touch. We don’t see each other as much as we’d like but the recipes we shared and made together that year keep us connected. Today felt like old times at the farm as I pressed my thumb into the dough and drizzled in jam. Instead of  bunk mates I share them with you. Enjoy!

Thumbprints

1 pound of butter (yep, that’s 4 sticks of butter!)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 cups flour

1/2 pound crushed walnuts

3 egg whites

Jam or preserves

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In a mixer, combine butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and flour. Roll into balls, dip in egg white and then roll in walnuts.

Place balls on greased cookie sheet and press thumb in gently. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Fill thumbprints with jam after 30 minutes of cooling.

Filed Under: In the Kitchen Tagged With: 2018, baking, cookies, in the kitchen, thumbprints, winter

Recent Posts

  • Thumbprints
  • The Lemon Drop
  • Kombucha
  • Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
  • This Week’s Vignette

Comments

  1. Diana says

    January 16, 2018 at 1:06 am

    I’m definitely going to try this recipe!

  2. sue silva says

    January 30, 2018 at 10:59 am

    Yum! I’m making these.

Welcome Welcome Amy Johnson is a writer, photographer, gardener, teacher, mother and wife living on the corner of Second and Edgemont. She creates space for beauty and simplicity in all that she does.
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Amy at Tend Collective

tend collective

Categories

  • Adventures & Getaways
  • At Home
  • Entertaining
  • In the Garden
  • In the Kitchen
  • Projects
  • Thrifting
  • Through the Seasons
  • Traditions and Celebrations

Gallery: Home

Home Gallery

Gallery: Garden

Garden
  • About
  • Garden
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Tend Collective

Tags

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 adventure april august autumn backyard beach birthday celebration christmas december february friends garden hannah holiday holidays home january july june kitchen lake lake shehawken mama march may norah november october old site papa september spring summer tend tradition traditions vacation winter

Archive

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2023 · Second and Edgemont · Site Design by Nomad Farm