What’s a holiday party with a thumbprint cookie of some sort? Jewel like jam in the center of a buttery cookie? Ok, hold that thought. Turn it around, add some crunchy cornmeal to that buttery dough and fill the center with some sort of savory jam. Say, a cranberry or mango chutney or a tomato or fig jam. Before you know it, you have a delightful cocktail snack. I can attest that these are delicious with an ice cold martini. Oh my.
Like everything in the series, this one is incredibly easy. But what to add to the center you ask? Has some kind soul gifted you with some homemade bacon jam and you’re not too sure what to do with it? Use it here! Have you bought a jar of some interesting thing – roasted onion jam or red pepper jelly – for that one recipe or a vacation souvenir and the half empty jar has been languishing in your fridge door all year? Use it here! Do you have multiple jars of tomato chile jam lining your pantry shelves from an ambitious late summer project? Use it here! Don’t have any of these things but want to make this anyway? Take some jam from the fridge, apricot or raspberry or orange marmalade perhaps, and add some things to make it interesting: a clove of finely minced garlic, a bit of Dijon mustard or horseradish, some finely chopped rosemary, a little pepper. Taste it. Is it good? Use it here!
For the base, I much prefer cutting pretty little rounds and putting a dollop of the jam in the center. I tried the traditional method, i.e. rolling a ball and making an indent in the center, and it didn’t work as well. They didn’t form prettily, were too big and the dough-to-jam ratio was off. A delicate round was much better. So gather up your stuff and add this one to the repertoire.
To start: base cracker doughs
Day 1: Cheddar Old Bay Crackers
Day 2: Blue Cheese & Fig Crackers
Day 3: Goat Cheese & Chive Crackers
Day 4: Parmesan & Rosemary Crackers
Day 5: Mediterranean Olive Shortbread
Day 6: Apricot & Tarragon Shortbread
SAVORY SHORTBREAD THUMBPRINTS
Makes about 3-4 dozen depending upon the size of your cutter. I do like a round for this one but other shapes work too.
¼ savory shortbread base dough, room temperature
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons fine cornmeal
1/3 cup savory jam or chutney, such as tomato jam or mango chutney
- Into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, break the base dough into several small pieces.
- Add the cornmeal and salt and mix on low until everything starts to work in – maybe 30-60 seconds or so. Do not over mix.
- Between two sheets of lightly floured parchment paper or plastic wrap, roll 1/3 of the dough to about 1/8” thick. Repeat with the remaining dough. If the dough sticks to the pin, add a bit of flour.
- Slide the dough sheets onto a sheet pan and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days, tightly wrapped.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
- Remove one dough sheet from the fridge, remove the top sheet of parchment/plastic wrap and cut shapes with a 1 ½” round cutter (or any cutter /shape you like). Gently press the scraps together, reroll and cut as needed.
- Transfer shapes to a parchment lined sheet pan, ¼” apart.
- Place ½ teaspoon or so of savory jam or chutney into the center of each round.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes until golden brown and firm, rotating the pans front-to-back and top-to-bottom halfway through baking.
- Slide the parchment from the sheet pan and let the crackers cool on a wire rack.
- Crackers will keep, tightly wrapped, for 5 days
- Do ahead: you have a bunch of options. Remember the holidays are stressful enough. Don’t add to it if you can help it.
- Base dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months
- Flavored dough: refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months
- Rolled dough sheets: refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month (the thinner sheets are a little tougher to wrap tightly and have a tendency to dry out faster.)
- Cut dough rounds: layer between sheets of parchment and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month. Let defrost on the sheet pans for a few minutes before baking.
STRESSCAKE 
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