YESSSS. TWO WHOLE DAYS OFF. Gonna use this time to squeeze in one last post before Christmas.
Christmas time around my house is pretty tame, just like the rest of the year. The only time there is a spike in the plateau is during Chinese New Years. My mom goes ALL OUT for that. Like, I’m talking 5 straight days of celebrations, weird traditions and all. Ie. not being allowed to wash your hair for 3 days because “you’ll wash the luck away”.
The way my family celebrates Christmas is done in the same fashion as all of our other celebrations. We go for dimsum in the morning then for dinner we go out to a Chinese resto. You might be like “oh but dimsum is sao friggin GOOD”. Yeah, it is. But gurl needs her mash, gravy and turkey yo.
Knowing that my mom and dad are never going to change their ways, I decided to create Christmas traditions for myself and me sibs.
1. Give and get actual presents – not just moolah in a red envelope
2. PVR every Christmas movie and watch it on Christmas eve
3. Fall asleep in the living room after watching said movies
4. Wake up and make Christmas dinner for breakfast (this has yet to happen since we tend to sleep in after our late night movie marathon)
5. Open pressies with the sibs and cousins
So tell me peeps, what are/were you up to on Christmas day?
These hazelnut raspberry thumbprints came together in a jiffy, a JIFFY I tells ya. I had about an hour before I had to rush out the door to my own birthday party but these came together in about 30 minutes. If you are looking for a quick and impressive cookie to greet your guests tomorrow, this is the cookie. Oh and the taste? Delicious. The shortbread is truly melt-your-mouth and I take that cookie characteristic seriously. To get that shine and smoothness on the jam, just microwave it a little bit so that it can run smoothly and not just plop in chunks.
Hazelnut Raspberry Thumbprints
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts finely chopped
- 1⅓ cup All-purpose Flour
- ⅓ cup Cocoa Powder
- ⅓ cup Cornstarch
- ⅔ cup Powdered Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter room temp
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam/preserves warmed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.
- Roast hazelnuts for 5 minutes, de-skin as much of it as you can using a dry towel
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, cornstarch, powdered sugar, and salt until blended.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter and mix in slowly until just combined.
- Scoop about 1.5 tbsp of dough and roll into a smooth ball.
- Roll into chopped hazelnuts
- Flatten slightly then place onto baking sheet
- Make an indentation with your thumb (or knuckle as I do) in the middle, careful not to break through the dough
- Bake for 9-13 minutes in preheated oven.
- Let the cookies cool before filling with jam
- Warm up the jam a little bit for better flow and to get that shine!
- Spoon about 1 tsp into each cookie.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a comment below and tag @chocolateandconnie on Instagram.
These definitely are the most perfect looking thumbprint cookies ever. Totally could devour many of them right now!
Ahaha thanks Thalia! Wish I could mail some over or something 😛
Do you use a raspberry marmalade or is regular jam like Smuckers good to use too?
Hi Maya! I just use smuckers seedless raspberry jam actually. Heat it up a little in the microwave then spoon it on top for that even, glass-like look 🙂