Bird Nest Cookies

For some reason in my family we only seem to make these cookies around Christmas, but they are too good to be reserved for just one season. There are other similar recipes out there which call these "Jam Thumbprints" but we always called them Bird Nest Cookies. A food processor speeds the process by quickly and more finely chopping the nuts. Back in the 1960s when Mom made these cookies she used to fiddle about using a teaspoon to fill the center of the cookies with jelly. It is so much easier to just spoon the jam or jelly into a decorator's tube with a medium to large tip and pipe it into the cookies. If you don't own one, it is well worth the investment to just buy a cheap plastic one.

Rick, Sherrie, Terri 12-25-1954

Bird Nest Cookies

1 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 egg yolks

2 cup flour

2 egg white, slightly beaten

2+ cup very finely chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and mix well.  Add flour and mix.  Shape into small balls (about 1‑1/4" in diameter). Dip cookies in beaten egg white and roll in nuts to cover. Place on cookie sheet and press indentation in center. 

Bake in 350  oven for 8 minutes; remove, press center again (use end of a wooden spoon or some other implement so you don't burn your fingers) and fill with a tart jelly (currant or red raspberry).  Bake an additional 10 minutes.