PEANUT BUTTER THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and combine using a whisk. Make sure baking soda is well distributed in the flour.
• In a bowl of your mixer, beat butter for 30 seconds, then add both sugars and beat until well combined, about 4 minutes, add all the peanut butter, and beat until smooth.
• Add the eggs, scrape the bowl in the beating process, and add vanilla extract.
• On low speed, add flour in 3 additions to your peanut butter mixture, and mix until incorporated.
• Scrape the dough into a plastic container or another smaller bowl, seal and refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hour. If in a hurry, place the dough to chill in the freezer until firm and not sticky.

Bake Cookies

• Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Take your cookie dough out of the fridge or freezer.
• You want the cookie dough to be cold, it is easier to handle when it is cold, when it gets warm it will become sticky.
• With a 1-inch cookie scoop, measure the cookie dough. Place mounds of cookie dough onto a plate. Then roll each piece of cookie dough to shape a ball. Coat each ball in vanilla or granulated sugar.

  Transfer cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookie balls. Calculate about 10-12 cookies per large baking sheet.
• Spray a wooden spoon handle with a nonstick spray or grease it with a little oil and make an indentation in the middle of each cookie ball.

  Alternatively, if you don't want to make thumbprint cookies, use a fork and make a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
• Bake cookies until edges are golden brown, for about 10 to 12 minutes, rotate pans at half time.
• Remove cookies from the oven, let them cool slightly on the baking sheet, transfer them onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
• At this time, you can either freeze the cookies for later use or you can fill them and enjoy them right away.

Fill Cookies

• Cherry or other Fruit Preserves - heat the cherry preserve until warm and fluid. Strain it thru a mesh sieve to separate the fruit from the juices. Place cherry pieces on the top of your baked cookies, where you see a little "pot hole" in the middle of the cookie.

Chocolate Topping

• Place chocolate and Crisco in a heat-safe bowl (tempered glass or stainless steel). Put the bowl on top of the pot with simmering water. Don't let the simmering water touch the bottom of the chocolate bowl. Stirring, melt the chocolate.
• Don't use damp utensils or bowls when working with chocolate any trace of water will ruin your chocolate.
• Once the chocolate is melted, let it cool a little till the chocolate is "lava" consistency, you don't want it to be too runny or too thick.
• Using one teaspoon, gently smooth out melted chocolate on top of the cherries you just placed on the baked peanut butter cookies. Let cool completely or place in the fridge for the chocolate to harden.
• Store in an airtight container in the cool room, layered between pieces of wax paper.
• Filled cookies will be good for about 3-4 weeks.