Quince Thumbprint Cookies

Before we dash off for the holidays, I wanted to leave you with one last holiday cookie recipe. It's a bit of an unusual one, these quince thumbprint cookies, but that amount of cornstarch is not a typo. It makes the cookies extra soft and tender.I haven't quite sorted out a recipe for quince jam yet, but basically you poach quinces in wine and sugar (like in this recipe), and just cook them until the quince completely falls apart and becomes jam like.The ruby red jams makes for beautiful cookies.



Quince Thumbprint Cookies
Adapted from The Last Course by Claudia Fleming.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks, 12 oz) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
pinch salt
1 cup finely ground toasted hazlenuts (walnuts also work)
1 cup quince jam (perhaps from a failed quince poaching experiment, or purchased)

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the vanilla. Sift the flour, salt, and cornstarch into the butter mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Cover the dough and chill for at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Form heaping teaspoonfuls of cookie dough balls and spacing them evenly on a greased or lined cookie sheet. Press an indent with your thumb into each cookie. Bake 13-15 minutes, until very lightly golden.
3. Transfer to a rack, then immediately scoop the jam into the indents of the still-warm cookies. Let cool completely, dust with powdered sugar.