Green Tea Thumbprints With Three Different Fillings Recipes

VEGAN MATCHA ALMOND THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the egg replacer and water and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the almond paste, agave nectar, and Earth Balance until creamy. Add the extracts and the egg replacer mixture and continue beating. Stir in the flour and salt to create a soft dough.
• Using a teaspoon, create small balls of cookie dough and drop them on the prepared cookie sheet, leaving plenty of room between cookies. Push your thumb down into each cookie to create an imprint. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges begin to harden. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
• For the frosting, mix the matcha powder with the creamer in a small bowl to create a paste. In a medium bowl, beat the Earth Balance briefly and scrape the bowl. Add the powdered sugar and matcha paste, and beat again until smooth. Once the cookies have cooled, use a teaspoon to scoop some matcha frosting into each thumbprint.

PERFECT THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Mix butter and powdered sugar together with a rubber spatula until creamy. Add vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and egg yolk. Mix with the spatula. Add flour and blend until just combined.
• Use a sorbet scoop to portion dough into 1/2-ounce (1-tablespoon) balls. Roll balls in a plate of white sugar to coat; roll again between your palms. Place several inches apart on a silicone-lined baking sheet. Flatten balls lightly with your fingers.
• To make shortbread cookies with a little jam, poke a well into each cookie using the end of a thick wooden spoon dusted with powdered sugar or using one of your fingers. Fill cookies with fruit jam. Tap baking sheet against the counter to let jam settle.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops are barely blonde and bottoms are slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack before icing.
• Meanwhile, mix powdered sugar with a little milk until you have a consistency that will hold its shape when piped. Pipe icing on top of cookies in a zigzag pattern. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
• For a more jam-forward cookie, press your thumb into the cookies to make large, shallow indentations. Spoon in jam. Tap baking sheet against the counter.
• Bake until not quite golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let rest on pan for 5 minutes before transferring a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar.

FESTIVE THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Place sprinkles in a shallow bowl or bowls., Shape dough into 1-in. balls; dip tops in sprinkles. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press a deep indentation in center of each with your thumb. Bake until edges are light brown, 10-12 minutes. Using a wooden spoon handle, enlarge any indentations that may have narrowed or closed. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool., For filling, bring sugar, butter and milk to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add candy coating and vanilla; stir until smooth. Divide filling between 2 bowls. Using food coloring, tint filling in one bowl red and in the other bowl green. Spoon fillings into indentations; let stand until set.,

GREEN TEA COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat over to 350°F.
• Cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla together.
• Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
• Mix dry and wet ingredients.
• Mix in chips and nuts.
• Shape into a golf ball and place dough on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake for 10 minutes.

COCOA THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, the cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and eggs and stir until combined. Cover and refrigerate the dough until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Place the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in 2 separate small bowls. Roll scant tablespoonfuls of dough into balls; roll in the granulated sugar and then in the confectioners' sugar. Place 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Lightly flatten each ball with your fingers and make a deep 1/2-inch-wide indentation in the centers with your thumb. Place your choice of filling in the indentation. Bake the cookies until puffed and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes. Let cool 3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

GREEN TEA MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven at 350°F.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, and green tea powder and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter until light.
• Add the sugar and eggs and beat some more until light and fluffy.
• Add the dry mixture and the milk.
• Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are just incorporated (don't overmix). The batter will be somewhat lumpy.
• Divide the batter among the muffin tins (If you don't have any liners, grease the tins), about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack.
• Bon appetit!

THUMBPRINTS WITH DULCE DE LECHE, NUTELLA OR JAM

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts or pecans out on a small baking sheet and cook in oven, shaking several times, until toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. If using hazelnuts, transfer to a bowl to cool, cover with a folded dish towel, then rub off the skins. (No need to toast the pistachios.)
• Once cooled, transfer the nuts to a food processor, preferably a mini one. Add 2 teaspoons flour and pulse just until nuts are finely ground, being careful not to overprocess.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping bowl as needed. Add egg yolks and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl a few times as needed.
• Add 1/2 cup ground nuts, the salt and the remaining 2 1/4 cups flour; beat on low speed just until combined, then increase speed and beat until dough starts to clump together. Scrape the bowl and fold a few times to make sure everything is well mixed. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pinch off small pieces of dough the size of a rounded tablespoon (about 20 grams each) and roll the top half of each one in the remaining ground nuts. Place a few inches apart on parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheets. Chill in the freezer until firm, about 10 minutes.
• Bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven and make a thumbprint in each cookie. Bake until golden brown on the bottom, and nuts are looking toasty but not burned, 6 to 8 minutes longer. Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets and transfer to wire racks to cool further. While the cookies are still a little warm, fill each one with about 1/2 teaspoon of filling, and cool completely. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

GREEN TEA THUMBPRINTS WITH THREE DIFFERENT FILLINGS

Steps:

• First combine all of the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Then add all of the wet ingredients at once and knead everything into a smooth dough.
• Divide dough into 24 portions and roll them into balls (about the size of a walnut). Using one of your fingers or a spoon make an indentation into each thumbprint.
• Fill 8 cookies with 1/2 ts of marmalade each, 8 with peanut butter and the other 8 with the red currant jam.
• Place them on a paper-lined baking sheet and bake in the pre-heated oven at 180°C/350°F for about 15 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned around the edges and cooked through.