Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookies with Pepper Jelly
Sparkling with spicy-sweet pepper jelly, these cornmeal thumbprint cookies come with unexpected flavor! With honey and whole wheat flour, they're like a not-too-sweet Italian polenta cookie! Can be filled with regular jelly, jam, or marmalade.
Servings: 40 cookies.
Calories: 72kcal
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup honey
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cornmeal (5 ounces)
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour (6 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅓ cup pepper jelly, or as needed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer,beat the butter and honey until well blended. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, scrapingthe sides and bottom of the bowl. (At this point the batter will lookcurdled—that’s normal. The dough will come together when the cornmeal and flour are added.)
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, paprika, salt, nutmegand cayenne until the spices are well dispersed. Mix into the butter mixtureuntil the dough comes together. Scrape into a bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line 2 large bakingsheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Drop rounded teaspoons ofthe dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1-inch apart. Or scoop thedough into 1-inch balls using a small #100 scoop.
- With your middle finger make a deep indent. Move your fingeraround to widen the hole, leaving a 3/8-inch border around the “thumbprint”hole.
- Fill with pepper jelly.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until just barely golden on the bottom of the cookies.
Notes
- To help sticky honey flow out of a measuring cup, first coat the cup with oil. Pour a little oil in a clean measuring cup, swirl the oil around, and then pour it right back into the bottle. Then measure the honey in the “oiled” cup.
- If needed, chill a few minutes, but not so long that the dough is difficult to scoop.
- You may need to dip your finger in flour to keep the dough from sticking to your finger.
Nutrition
Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 63mg | Potassium: 25mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 124IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg