Coconut Black Raspberry Thumbprints

I’m not big on jams and jellies, although I love just enough for a taste of various flavors. I have a jar of black raspberry jam that kept staring at me every time I opened the fridge. I figured I’d get more use out of it in some kind of dessert rather than slathered on some toast. But what should I make? Maybe a cookie, perhaps?

Well, thanks to Peabody, she inspired me to make thumbprint cookies after her recent post using the following recipe below on her blog. She used a combination of all-purpose flour and rice flour for the dough and filled each cookie with pineapple and raspberry jam before baking. I also like that she pulsed the coconut for the dough, which is her adaptation to the original recipe. I decided not to pulse the coconut to add a little texture to the dough. Please check out her blog for some amazing and droolworthy pictures. You won’t be disappointed…

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
½ cup rice flour (Peabody say all-purpose can be used instead)
¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
jam of your choice

(Optional – I chose not to pulse and keep the coconut as is.) Place coconut into a food processor. Pulse a couple of times until the coconut becomes fine but still has some texture to it.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda and salt. Whisk in the coconut.

Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for another 30 seconds.

On low speed, add the flour/coconut mixture and mix until fully incorporated.

Form into a ball or disc and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Position rack in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and make a dent in each cookie (You can use your thumb, melon baller or a tart shaper, which I used). Bake them for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.

Remove from oven. You’ll notice that the cookies have spread a bit. Depress the centers once again and fill cookies with jam of your choice (I used black raspberry).

Place the cookies back into the oven for 7 more minutes. If you like your cookies softer bake for 5 minutes. But these are more like a tea cookie and are meant to be crisp.