When I mentioned making cookies, Peggy asked me to make her favorite ... thumbprint cookies. But she didn't have a recipe so I went out to the Internet to steal and modify a few or one that looked good. My essential modification to the selected recipe was to beat the dough until it was fluffy, and that resulted in excellent cookie dough texture after baking. I also somewhat changed the ingredients but the basic recipe is unchanged.

Here is "THE" one stunningly good shortbread type cookie recipe that clearly makes it a shoo-in candidate for Food Nirvana. Thanks to AllRecipes.com! Great job, folks!

I made half of the batch using black cherry preserves and the other half using apple butter. Yield: 24 cookies, having used a 2 tbsp. scoop to dispense the dough. Both flavors are superb! The cookie texture is perfect.

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter, softened

⅔ cup of white sugar

½ teaspoon of almond extract

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of seedless jam or preserve of your choice, warmed slightly and mixed with a spoon to be easy to dispense into the cookie thumbprints

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the softened butter and white sugar together in a stand mixer bowl on medium low speed until creamy.

Add the 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract while mixing. Add the flour gradually and continue mixing on medium speed until the dough is uniform and fluffy.

Form the dough into half-moon shape mounds (use a 2 tbsp. scoop) and place the mounds on a parchment paper covered 11" x 17" baking sheet about 2 inches apart (12 mounds per sheet).

Use your thumb and/or forefinger to press down and make a deep dent in the center of each mound, then use a teaspoon and fill the dent with the warmed/mixed preserve or other filling of your choice.

Bake the cookies in two separate batches in the preheated oven until the edges are lightly browned, about 16 minutes total baking time. Rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees after the first 8 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes, then transfer them to a plate with a spatula.

Enjoy! Oh, my, these are really great!