TWD: Pistachio & Sicilian Orange Thumbprints

I know, I know, I'm almost two weeks late here... This is the cookie that all of the other TWDers baked week before last, and I really didn't want to skip it. I have a cookbook that has pistachio thumbprints filled with rose petal jam, and I was planning on that combo, but when I opened my rose petal jam, it had mold in it... The only other jam I had was Sicilian Orange. I was skeptical at first about combining it with the pistachios, but in the end it was a fantastic choice. These are some seriously delicious cookies.

Please, no fried egg comments, I know what my little cookies resemble... You'll have to forgive them their appearance, because they really are something special. The Sicilian Orange jam has an almost bitter tartness that plays beautifully off of the creamy sweet pistachios. The cookie is a soft nutty shortbread that almost melts in your mouth. I had to get them out of the house promptly, because I found myself gobbling up one after another. After another...

I'm going to have to make these again one day soon using palm sugar, because I know my boys would be crazy for them, too. I didn't use palm sugar this time because the jam I was planning on using had sugar in it...

The only thing I might do differently next time is to leave out the almond extract and see what that does. Though there isn't a lot, it is a prominent - though tasty - flavor, and I'd like to see how the cookie is affected by removing it. Other than that, these are wonderful.

So, thanks so much to Mike of Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude for picking this fantastic cookie for us all to bake! The recipe is on his blog.

And with this, I'm really hoping to be back into the TWD swing of things, I've missed it the past few weeks!

The next TWD treat on the agenda is Dulce de Leche duos. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss this one!