imperfect perfect thumbprint cookie

Lemon Sage Thumbprint Cookies

Wouldn't it be nice if we could transcend ourselves without the innate desire for perfection. The thought of overcoming negative and rising to triumph somewhat implies perfection - or one's subjective concept of perfection. I am no closer to being perfect than fried food is to being healthy, which is probably why I have abandoned this blog for weeks at a time. No matter my curating effort when it comes time to post something isn't quite right ... the images aren't striking enough, the writing is lackluster, someone else has done it before and better. So here I am transcending myself with imperfection, accompanied with tasty thumbprint cookies.

I am far from a baker. Scratch that, I am the anti-baker nor am I a chef or a recipe maker. But a friend of mine who is all those things ate my thumbprint cookies and said she wanted the recipe. My thumbprint cookies aren't properly circular ... they aren't the correct proportion every time ... the icing sometimes doesn't even harden completely as it should. But they taste wonderful. The shortbread isn't dry and the icing can be catered to one's coveted flavor. My neighbor, who eats strictly gluten-free, says they are the only flour containing food he will consume. If they've won over the gluten-free community then I am pretty sure I can share them.

Lemon Sage and Strawberry Vanilla Thumbprint Cookies co-mingling

Strawberry laced with Vanilla Thumbprint Cookies

Sustainable honey from Holland, MI

Shortbread Cookies with Honey Almond Icing

Warning: Since I am not a baker, I do not regularly follow recipes. The recipe or template below is one that I ordinarily stick to when making these cookies. Traditionally, thumbprint cookies have boring icing with food coloring. I tend to take the path less travelled when icing is the topic. The thumbprint cookies in this round are Lemon Sage ... Strawberry Vanilla ... Honey Almond. If you wish to know more about the icing creations feel free to contact me. Otherwise, I encourage you to create your own - with what ever is available or which flavors you currently fancy.

Cookie Recipe: 
1} 1 cup of softened salted butter
2} 1/2 cup of sugar
3} 2 cups of flour
4} 1/2 teaspoon of salt
In a mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the sugar and butter on med-high until almost whipped. Then add flour and salt and mix on low until the concoction becomes a dough. Flatten dough into a disc approximately 1/2 inch thick, then wrap in plastic and set it in the refrigerator for an hour. Or if you are impatient - like me - put it in the freezer for 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 325. Form dough into balls about 1 tablespoon in size. Leave a thumb indention too. Bake for 10 minutes, then pull out the cookies and repress your thumb into them because they will rise. Place them back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Total baking time 20 minutes.

Icing Recipe: 
This is really a trial and error element of the cookies.
1} 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
2} 1-2 tablespoons of milk
3} 1-2 tablespoons of other wet ingredient (honey, fruit puree or preserves)
4} 1/4 teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract *** optional
5} pinch over desired fresh herbs *** optional
Whisk the icing ingredients together in a bowl. I start with 1 tablespoon of the wet ingredients (honey, fruit puree, preserve, milk) because they can be added if the icing is too think. Add ingredients until the flavor is to your liking. If the icing is too runny then add more powdered sugar. And by all means, please pretend you are a chemist (it adds to the fun). After piping the icing, the hardest trial is at hand. You must wait 8 to 10 hours for the icing to harden before consuming the cookies. If you can’t wait to try one, stick it in the freezer or refrigerator for around 30 minutes.