You can’t get more Southern than pecan thumbprint cookies.  When I first thought of making my cookie book, I wanted to include all the cookies that my mother and my mother-in-law, both definitely Southern cooks, had passed on to me. These cookies are particularly fun to make with kids as they are first rolled into a ball.  (Wash their little hands first!)

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup all-purpose flour
2. 1/8 teaspoon salt
3. ½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
4. 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5. ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
6. 1 egg yolk
7. ¾ cup pecans, coarsely ground
8. jam

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper

1. Sift together the flour and salt into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Combine the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the egg yolk.
4. Add the flour mixture and pecans and mix until just incorporated.
5. Roll pieces of the dough between your palms to form 1” balls.
6. Space 1 ½” apart on baking sheet.
7. Using your thumb, make a depression about ¼” deep in the center of each ball.
8. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Fill the depression in the cookies with jam.
9. Continue baking the cookies about 10 minutes longer.
10. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
11. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.