Peanut Butter Thumbprints
A peanut butter cookie with a well of jam — the pantry PB&J, baked.
Makes 30 cookies · Prep 25 min · Rise 45 min · Bake 14 min
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/2 cup Butter, softened
- 3/4 cup Peanut butter
- 2/3 cup Brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups All-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
Filling
- 1/2 cup Thick jam or preserves — grape, strawberry, or raspberry
Instructions
Dough
- Cream the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until light, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together and mix in just until combined.
Chill
- Chill 45 minutes.
Shape
- Roll into walnut-sized balls, space on a lined sheet, and press a deep well into each with the round end of a wooden spoon.
Bake
- Bake at 175°C (350°F) for 7 minutes, until set but still pale.
- Take the sheet out, re-press each well firmly, spoon in about half a teaspoon of jam, and return to the oven until the edges are golden.
Cool
- Cool on the pan 10 minutes — the jam is molten.
Tips
- Don't skimp on the salt: Peanut butter and jam are both sweet and both rich, and without enough salt they blur into one note. The 3/4 tsp here is doing real work separating them.
- Wells closed up during baking: Press deeper than feels right to begin with, and don't skip the second press at the halfway mark — that's the one that restores the shape after the cookie has puffed.