Here is the thing about Martha Stewart, it's not that I've been intimidated by her, it's just that I've felt kind of....neutral? on the subject of her. I know some people swear by her and everything she stands for, and I know some people loathe her and everything she stands for.
However, last year, I was visiting with a friend, helping her decorate a wedding cake, and I remembered I wanted her recipe for grapefruit cookies (I don't like grapefruit, but oh man, those cookies...). She directed me to one of her favorite books, which happened to be "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook." I looked through it, and I. Fell. In. Love. Everything, and I mean practically everything, just looked delicious and like something I would actually want to make! And COULD actually make! So I jotted down the grapefruit cookie recipe, and promptly made them that night and failed.
I think....I think I wrote the recipe down wrong? I'm not sure, because I did everything I had written down and I'm not perfect and this post is not about those cookies anyways (I am planning on revisiting them someday).
My point is, I ordered the book, so that I could have the recipe in its perfect form and also because I was in love at that point. I got it, and it's been sitting on my bookshelf for the better part of a year. Doing nothing.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I set a goal (NOT a resolution!) to bake 12 things out of Martha's book, over the next year. That's one thing a month. Duh?
To my point, THIS post is about the very first thing that I ever baked out of Miss Martha's baking book! And it was delicious. If you like shortbread and you like cheesecake, then these cookies have your name alllllllllll over them. They're so easy and good! Yes I just used the word easy to describe a Martha Stewart recipe. It does, however, have a few different steps, so you'll want to have about a 2 hour block to make sure you get these done properly. Totally worth it. I told my Beehives (the 12/13 year old girls that I teach at church) about them one Sunday, and I was ordered to bring them to the following Tuesday night's activity. I left with an empty container, so it's good people. Really, really good.
Cheesecake Thumbprints
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt, plus a pinch
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp sour cream
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all purpose flour
In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add ¼ cup sugar and a pinch of salt, and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add 1 egg yolk, sour cream, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and remaining ¼ cup sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and egg yolk; beat to combine. With mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.
Shape level tablespoons of dough into balls, and place on prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Using the lightly floured end of a thick wooden spoon handle (or your thumb), make an indentation in the center of each ball.
Bake 10 minutes; remove from oven and make indentations again. Rotate sheets, return to oven, and bake until edges of cookies begin to turn golden, 7 to 9 minutes more. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Using a small teaspoon, fill the center of each cookie with about 1 teaspoon cream cheese filling, mounding it slightly. Return cookies to the oven, and bake until the filling is firm, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container, layered between waxed or parchment paper, at least 4 hours before serving (cookies can be refrigerated overnight).
Note: This recipe makes about 30 cookies. These cookies are best eaten after they have been refrigerated overnight. Allow them to sit at room temperature for twenty minutes before serving.
The dough is really like a thick, dry, shortbread type dough. Which, of course, I LOVE.
I had to call my mom to consult with her about what she felt the "upper and lower thirds" of my oven were. I did the 2nd and 4th rungs, and they were perfect. When I took the dough out to re-do the indentations, I rotated the sheets and switched the racks they were on, when I put them back in the oven, just for more evenness.
I won't lie to you, I was all set to use a spoon to re-do the indentations, but it was just not working fast enough and also I think the dough is too fragile when it's that warm to be using anything but your thumb. So just suck it up and do it! Or use a spoon. Really, it's up to you.
I must tell you, as I was looking at my cheesecake filling, and at Miss Martha's, I was a bit concerned. People, her's was PURE. WHITE. How you get a pure white, egg yolk based mixture is BEYOND me. I felt much better about myself when I did some internet grazing and realized that all of the other normal people, like me, had yellow filling too.
Here they are before going in for round two of baking.
Aaaaaand finally finished!!!! These are really really good. But definitely refrigerate them before eating. I didn't let them chill overnight, like the recipe recommends, but about 4 hours and it was perfect.
(Can I tell you I had a heartbreaking realization, when looking around for tips on taking better food pictures? Better food pictures require natural light. I live in an apartment, which requires NO natural light, at least in the kitchen. Sad day. I guess I could start baking on my couches? Until I have a house for myself, your guess is as good as mine, will you please continue to be patient with my dark, awful pictures?)
Now, go make a Martha Stewart recipe for yourself, and feel pretty dang proud of yourself in the process.
Recipe Source: (more to come from this book! and that is a guaranteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)
