Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

Adapted from the recipe of Lydia & Assunta Leonelli, aunt and gradmother of Stan Hockey

1 ¼ Cups Pamela’s GF Baking & Pancake Mix
¼ Cup light brown sugar (packed)
½ Cup of Butter
2 Egg (separated)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
½ tsp. Almond Extract
Finely Ground walnuts (if you can find a Mouli use it to grind the walnuts)
Choice of filling (see directions below)

Note: A teaspoon of gelatin or pectin will aid in binding to prevent crumbling.
Be creative, add red & green sprinkles to the ground walnuts for a little Christmas coloring.

Soften the butter and cream it along with the sugar, yolk of the eggs, vanilla & almond extracts.

Blend in the baking mix. Refrigerate the dough to stiffen (this will make it easier to handle).
Whip the egg white enough to break up the protein strands, and place in a bowl. Put the ground walnuts in another bowl.

Preheat oven to 350˚F

I use the large end of a melon baller as a guide to size. Balls should weigh about 14-15 grams (entire dough yields about 28 cookies). Roll into a ball. Dip the ball into the egg white then dip the same side in the ground walnuts.

Place the ball, nut side up, on a cookie sheet. Wait for balls to come to room temperature to avoid splitting in the next step. Put a dent in the top with your thumb. Fill the dent with the jelly, jam or preserve of choice. Maraschino cherries or pie filling cherries work great as well

Raise top rack in oven to 2nd highest position (so filling will bake more) and bake for 11 – 12 minutes till edges begin to brown. No more than 12 minutes,time is critical. Allow to cool slightly before removing from cookie sheet.

Cookies are delicate due to lack of gluten so let then cool to firm up.

To purchase Pamela’s Baking & Pancake mix:
http://www.pamelasproducts.com/