Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Yield: about 26 cookies

Total Time: 5 hours, 15 minutes (includes chilling & cooling)

Yes! You have to chill the dough for 4 hours so plan accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (264g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
• 1/2 cup (160g) raspberry jam²

Icing

• 1 cup (120g) confectioners' sugar
• 1-2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) cream or milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (optional)

Directions:

This cookie dough requires at least 4 hours for chilling and cookies must cool before glazing. Don't forget to plan ahead!

1. Make the cookies: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Switch mixer to medium speed and add the the sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and pour the flour into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and slowly beat until a very soft dough is formed.  Press the dough down to compact it and tightly cover with plastic wrap to chill until firm, at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (silicone mats preferred to reduce spreading). Shape the cookie dough into balls. Mine were about 1 Tablespoon of dough per ball. Make sure they're nice and smooth. If you find that the balls of dough are sticky and/or have gotten a little soft after rolling- place the balls of dough back into the refrigerator to firm up. You absolutely DO NOT want soft dough.³ Make an indentation with your thumb into each ball. The dough may crack slightly when you press your thumb into it. Simply smooth it out with your fingers if you can. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine to have a few cracks. Fill each with a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam. (Or however much it can hold.)
3. Bake the shortbread thumbprint cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. The cookies will puff up and spread slightly. Do not overbake.  In fact, I only baked mine for 13-14 minutes. I prefer them a little soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before glazing.
4. Make the glaze: Whisk the glaze ingredients together until smooth. Add more liquid to thin out or add more confectioners' sugar to thicken to your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Glaze will set within a couple hours.

Make ahead and storing: Store cookies covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 6 days. Shortbread cookie dough can be frozen up to 2 months; baked cookies (without glaze) may be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Recipe Notes:

1. 2 Tablespoons of flour added to the recipe. I make my cookies with only 2 cups of flour, however I suggest readers add 2 extra Tablespoons to prevent extra spreading.
2. Get creative with jam flavors! Any flavor you love works.
3. Make sure the cookie dough is cold and firm at all times. If it's not firm and cold, put back into the refrigerator to chill. When working in batches, keep the unused dough chilled in the refrigerator. You may roll, print, and fill batch #2 and stick in the fridge while batch #1 bakes.

Original Recipe here: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/12/12/raspberry-almond-thumbprint-cookies/

French Toast Roll-Ups

Ingredients

8 slices white sandwich bread

softened cream cheese, diced strawberries, or Nutella

2 eggs

3 tablespoons milk

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon

butter, for greasing the pan

Instructions

1. Cut the crust from each slice of bread and flatten it out with a rolling pin.
3. Place about 1-2 teaspoons of your chosen filling 1 inch from one end of the bread in a strip. Roll the bread up tightly and repeat with the remaining pieces of bread. I really like cream cheese with diced strawberries as one combination and Nutella with diced strawberries as another combination.
5. In a shallow bowl whisk the eggs and milk until well combined. (Hint: Next time I would put a little egg on a plate for rolling so when I rolled the bread, the ends don't get egg on them. The ends are harder to cook.) 
7. In a separate shallow bowl mix the sugar with the cinnamon.
9. Heat a skillet set over medium heat and melt a tablespoon of butter.
11. Dip each bread roll in the egg mixture coating well and then place them in the pan seam side down. Cook in batches until golden brown, turning them to cook and brown on all sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add butter to the pan as needed.
13. Add cooked rolls immediately from the pan to the cinnamon sugar and roll until completely covered in sugar. You can serve with syrup for dipping but I think they're perfectly good all by themselves.

Original recipe found here: http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2013/05/french-toast-roll-ups.html