A mild buttery taste, a crisp, tender, pebbly texture, with a quick hit of rich chocolate: This little cookie is everything a shortbread should be, and the oatmeal makes you feel like it’s health food. Serve it with berries, ice cream or custards for a pleasing dessert or with a cup of coffee any time of day.
I’m crazy about the cookie cutter I used to make these pretty things — it adds a lot to their appeal. It’s spring-loaded and stamps the dough with a deep design that includes an indented center, all ready for filling when baked. It’s part of a set of three (the round one used for these cookies, another that’s heart-shaped and a third that’s a rectangle). They’re available online from Williams-Sonoma, just look for Thumbprint Cookie Stamps, set of 3.
Oatmeal Shortbread Thumbprints
Makes 14 2¼-inch cookies;
total time: 85 minutes
Make on a shiny metal cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
For the cookies
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon bleached all-purpose flour, spoon and level
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (one stick), cut into 16 pieces
¼ cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
For chocolate filling
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ teaspoon canola oil
Preparation: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, with a rack in the center position.
Make dough: To make with a food processor: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to combine well. Add the butter and pulse until the texture is like coarse meal. Add the oatmeal and (if using) vanilla, and pulse until a moist dough forms and almost makes a ball on the blade. Don’t overmix. To make with a mixer: Place the butter in a mixing bowl and bring to room temperature. Add the sugar and salt and, on low speed, beat until combined but not completely smooth. Add the flour, oats and (if using) vanilla and, on low speed, mix until the dough has almost come together, scraping the bowl as needed. Don’t overmix.
Cut out cookies: Dump the dough out onto a sheet of waxed paper and gently knead into a disc. Place it between two sheets of waxed paper and roll to uniform thickness of a little over ¼ of an inch. (If the dough is sticky or too soft to cut easily, chill it, still between the sheets of waxed paper, until the dough firms up a little but is still quite pliable.) Gently remove the top sheet of waxed paper and, using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out cookies and put them an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. If your cutter sticks to the dough, dip it in flour and shake off the excess. Using your thumb or a round ¼-teaspoon measure, make an indentation in the center of each cookie. (This isn’t necessary if you use the thumbprint cutter described above). Move the cookies, on the pan, to the freezer until they’re quite firm. (This helps prevent spreading while baking). Gently gather the dough scraps together, form them into a disc, roll, cut and chill as described above.
Bake: Bake until the cookies are set, the edges and bottoms are golden, and the tops are slightly colored, 25-35 minutes (the time depends on their temperature at the start of baking). Remove them from the oven and, if the cookies’ indented centers have puffed up, gently press them down to deepen them. As soon as you can, remove the cookies from the pan to cool completely on a rack.
Fill: To fill the cookies, place the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it at a low temperature in a microwave oven until almost melted. Remove from the oven, add the oil, and stir until fully melted and smooth. If necessary, let the mixture sit until it thickens slightly, then spoon it into the cookies’ centers and let it set up. The cookies can be stored at cool room temperature for three days, or freeze for one to two months.
Vera Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks (available at Garcia Street Books in Santa Fe). Contact her at veradawson1@gmail.com.
