Martha Monday: Iced Thumbprint Cookies

Here's a great cookie recipe to add to your holiday baking repertoire. Thanks to Pru at Perfecting Pru for this week's Martha Monday pick! These were really yummy little cookies.

The cookie hails from the same family as a pecan sandy or a Russian tea cake. Whatever you care to call it, it's a shortbread with toasted pecans added. Instead of rolling the just baked cookies in powdered sugar (Which just ends up dusting your clothes doesn't it?) you make a thumbprint in each cookie before it is baked. Once they are cooled you fill the thumbprint with a simple powdered sugar glaze tinted whatever color suits your fancy. Mine were red and green. But wouldn't they look great with red and white for Valentine's Day? Or yellow, purple, and green for Mardi Gras? These little cookies were a hit in my family.

We ate the whole batch while we decorated our Christmas tree. Yum!

Daring Bakers Challenge: Crostata

Last month's Daring Bakers Challenge was to make a Crostata, which is basically a tart with an Italian name. We were given the recipe for the dough but we could fill it any way we liked. I chose a seasonal fruit, the cranberry. Actually, I just used this filling along with the required crust recipe given to us. I think mine came out beautifully but there are lots of other gorgeous concoctions on the Daring Kitchen website. You can also read about the challenge and get the recipes. Enjoy.