Also known hereabouts as Birds Nest Cookies, I have also seen them as Thumbprints. My recipe came from a tattered Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. There it listed as Almond Thimble Cookies. Sure the Birds Nests from the bakery have raspberry jam in the middle, but it's so short on nuts the nuts are merely implied. I often wondered how did they do that? Well you will need at least a cup of ground nuts for my cookies.
ALMOND THIMBLE COOKIES
1/2 cup butter1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flour
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 cup almonds, finely chopped
jelly or jam
• In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the almond extract.
• Gradually mix in the flour until the dough just comes together.
• Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
• Roll dough into 1 inch balls.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Dip the balls in slightly beaten egg white and roll into the almonds.
• Place the balls 1 inch apart on the parchment lined cookie sheet.
• Gently make an indentation in the center of each dough ball.
• Bake the cookies at 350F for 5 minutes.
• Remove cookies from the oven and quickly indent the centers again.
• Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes.
• Fill hot cookies with jelly or jam. Yield: 22 cookies
