Saturday, December 6, 2008

Rum-Pum-Pum Thumbprints

I will be posting a lot of Christmas cookies this month; this is the first installment! I have so many great memories of baking Christmas cookies with my family. Every Sunday in December would be time for baking. Mom would have Dad stir while he was in front of the TV watching football. She would add ingredients and tell him to stir.

I love this variation of a thumbprint cookie. The rum extract and nutmeg are a great combination. Make sure your dough is not sticky before putting it in the refrigerator. They'll be hard to roll and will spread out too much.

Don't forget to check out more Saturday Stirring recipes over at Carol's blog. And don't forget to come back all month long for great cookie recipes!


Rum-Pum-Pum Thumbprint Cookies

Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons rum extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
food color, if desired

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup butter and brown sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and 2 teaspoons rum extract; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Stir in flour and nutmeg; mix well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling.

2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With thumb, make imprint in center of each cookie.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 11 to 14 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool one minute; remove from cookie sheet.

4. In a small bowl, blend all frosting ingredients until smooth, adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Spoon or pipe about 1/2 teaspoon frosting into center of each cookie.

Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Tip: If any thumb indentations fill in during baking, indent them again immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven.

3 comments:

Kim said...

My daughter and I used to make a LOT of Christmas cookies every year. But the last few years with her at college we didn't have the time. And now we are far, far away from one another. I'll have to save your great cookie recipes and try them when I find another baking buddie here :-)

Farrah said...

Mmmmm! I love the name of them!

My family always made mostly candy for Christmas. Sometimes Mom made sugar cookies with fig filling or without that we could decorate with icing. My grandma always made thumbprint cookies, similar to sugar cookies. Other than that, it was fudge, haystacks, coconut balls, etc. We all like chocolate! Lol!

Horseless Age said...

Nice blog you have