Thumbprints
Contributed by Diane S.

                     *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                  1988 1st Place: Fay Kuhn's Thumbprints

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 24   Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Cookies

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
     1/2  C             Butter
     1/4  C             Sugar
     1/2  T             Vanilla
   1                    Egg, separated
   1      C             Flour
     1/4  T             Salt
   1 1/4  C             Finely chopped nuts
     1/4  C             Raspberry jam

Preparation time: 20 minutes Chilling time: 1 hour Baking time: 15 to 18
minutes

1. Beat together butter and sugar in a mixer bowl. Add vanilla and egg
yolk. Mix well.

2. Mix flour and salt, add to butter mixture and mix well. Cover;
refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Beat egg
white lightly in a small bowl. Put nuts in another small bowl. Dip each
ball into egg white, then roll in nuts. Put balls 1 inch apart on
ungreased cookie sheet. Press thumb in the center of each to make an
indentation.

4. Bake until light golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Fill
indentation with a small amount of raspberry jam.

Faye Kuhn, of Earlville, Illinois, recalled growing up in the tough
times of the '40s: "Despite the lack of finances, no holiday was ever
ignored in our household. Christmas, however, held the highest of
honors. . . We all boarded the train and off to the city we would go. We
would arrive home loaded with 'Evening in Paris' cologne, mittens,
socks, handkerchiefs and coloring books bought at Kresge's and
Woolworth's. Mom would then visit the local A & P for turkey,
cranberries, sweet potatoes, fresh ground coffee, nuts, apples, oranges
and one pound of butter to baste ol' Tom with. However, there was one
thing my mother didn't do in those days and that was to bake Christmas
cookies, for neither time nor money allowed such a luxury." But when her
mother retired, she started baking Christmas cookies, Kuhn recalls. The
family wanted her to make the thumbprints, yet no one knew the name or
the recipe. "Mother put on her coat, crossed our back yard and knocked
on our neighbor's door!

She returned somewhat later, victorious, with recipe card in hand."
from the Chicago Tribune annual Food Guide Holiday Cookie Contest
December 8, 1988