Two Faced Chef

Every girl will always remember her first time…

…using a food processor all by herself.  Fear, anxiety, probably a little pain…you know where I’m going.  My first food-processed concoction was Mini Jam Tarts, also known as thumbprint cookies.  I loved when my mom made them, because it would mean we would have lemon curd in the house which is one of my favorite things ever.  Little Mommies made them recently, and I decided to post the recipe for nostalgia sake, considering I would be starting college again this week if I wasn’t old.  Tell me why I graduated early again?

I don’t think I can express how good these are.  They are small one biters that lead to about 500 bites.  The shortening makes them slightly cakey and chewy and they are INCREDIBLE hot.  Oh and btw, thumbprint cookies aren’t normally baked in paper cups; however, my mom does this to make them “fancy.”  Nothing like a little paper boys and girls…

Ingredients

• 48 mini paper cup liners (available in supermarkets, candy and craft stores)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• Assorted jams (Little Mommies used raspberry and apricot jam, but I still like lemon curd filling the best.)

Haven’t done one of these ingredients pictures in a while.  Sorry, I’ve been lacking on my picture taking skills.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with sides with 48 mini paper cup liners.  With mixer on high speed, beat first 5 ingredients together.  Stir in flour.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place in paper liners.  Arrange dough on cookie sheet, placing them touching each other so that dough does not spread while cooking.  With handle of a wooden spoon, make indentation in center of each cookie.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack.  Fill each indentation with a small amount of jam while still warm.  Let cool completely.  Makes 48 cookies.

Food processor method: In work bowl fitted with steel blade, process first five ingredients (but use COLD butter) until smooth.  Add flour and pulse until just mixed. Do not over mix. Proceed as directed above.

The one on the bottom middle is my favorite. Little Mommies always does everything PERFECTLY and I love seeing that she sorta messed up, even though that’s the first cookie I would reach for because it holds the most filling.  You know she wouldn’t even let me do laundry as a kid because she thought I’d “mess it up.”  Therefore, I was demoted to vacuuming–where I always “missed spots” or folding, which you can guess from my picture taking skills didn’t go well.  And that is why in NYC, we pay to send out our laundry to get washed and folded.  I win.