By Six months to the wedding. Debbie is tracking this on a calendar in her kitchen with gold star stickers. I know this because Tyler told me and Tyler knows because Marcus told him with the specific amusement of a younger sibling who finds their mother endearing and does not try to hide it.
I have been thinking about the food at the reception. We are doing a church hall reception, which means the kitchen auxiliary women from New Hope Baptist will handle most of it. But I want something of my own there. I want something from Gloria kitchen on that table. I am going to make her tea cakes. They are a simple cookie, not fancy, made with butter and nutmeg and vanilla, the kind you find in Black Southern kitchens and not anywhere else I have ever been. They are completely homely and completely delicious and they are the first thing I learned to bake at Gloria table when I was fifteen and nervous and she put flour in front of me and said start here.
Destiny called me this week. She has Gloria phone on supervised basis. She called to tell me she got a good grade on a spelling test. I said that was excellent. She said I know. She hung up. Twelve words total. It was the best phone call of my week.
Gloria’s tea cakes are still the ones I’ll make for the reception — but while I was practicing the spirit of that simple, homely baking she taught me, I kept coming back to these thumbprint cookies, which carry that same quality: made by hand, not fancy, completely honest. They have that same press-of-the-thumb intention to them, the kind of cookie that says someone took a moment and meant it. If you’re baking toward something — a wedding, a good grade, a twelve-word phone call that made your whole week — these are the ones to make while you wait.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/3 cup strawberry or grape jelly (or your preferred flavor)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Cream butter and peanut butter. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and peanut butter together until smooth and well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Add sugars and wet ingredients. Beat in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the peanut butter mixture until a soft dough forms.
- Shape the cookies. Scoop dough into 1-tablespoon balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar to coat lightly, then place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Make the thumbprint. Use your thumb or the back of a 1/2 teaspoon measure to press a small well into the center of each dough ball, taking care not to press all the way through.
- Fill with jelly. Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jelly into each indentation. Do not overfill — the jelly will spread slightly as it bakes.
- Bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are lightly golden. The centers will look slightly underdone — that is correct.
- Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The jelly will firm up as they cool. Allow to cool completely before stacking or storing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 118 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 75mg