Blackberry Thumbprint Cookies with Cardamom and Walnuts

The holiday desserts become even more plentiful the closer we get to Christmas. This weekend, I had to make several batches of cookies for 3 different holiday parties. I'm in 5 different cookie swaps this holiday season, so the baking has not stopped. I also finally finished my Christmas shopping yesterday (thank you, Amazon) and can finally sit back and relax. I am hoping these gifts just wrap themselves, because I'm horrible at it and always put it off until the last minute.

While I was procrastinating, I baked these thumbprint cookies. They are one of my favorite cookies to make and It's a great way to use any homemade jam that you've had in in your fridge from the summer. I had some blackberry and apricot preserves that we made earlier this year, but feel free to use anything! I also end up using all the extra ground walnuts I had leftover from the baklava I made a couple days ago, which happened to have cardamom in it. I thought the flavor combination would be perfect and it end up being better than I imagined. I can't believe I didn't think of this before. You have to try it!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans 
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 1/2 cup jam of your choice (I used blackberry)

DIRECTIONS

1. In your stand mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes)
2. In 2 separate bowls, separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Keep the egg whites for later
3. Add the 2 egg yolks and vanilla into the butter and beat until combined
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until everything is just combined. If your batter is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for an hour
5. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment paper
6. In your food processor, combine the cardamom and nuts. Pulse until your nuts are in very fine pieces, but make sure you don't over pulse. This will turn your nuts into nut butter.
7. Take the reserved egg whites and whisk until frothy. Place the finely chopped nuts on a plate. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Taking one ball of dough at a time, dip into the egg whites and then lightly roll in the nuts. Place on the prepared baking sheet spacing each cookie 1 inch apart. Using your thumb or the end of a wooden spoon, make a indentation into the center of each cookie and fill with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Repeat this with the rest of your cookies.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are set and nuts are nicely toasted. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cook.