Birds Nests

A Classic Walnut-Crusted Thumbprint with a Jam Center

These thumbprint cookies are sometimes called nests, sometimes Russian tea cookies, sometimes fruit dimples. The construction is the same: roll a buttery shortbread dough into balls, dip in egg white, coat in crushed walnuts, and press a thumb into each one before filling with jam.

The egg-white dip is the trick that makes the walnut coating stick. The dough alone is too dry for nuts to cling, so a quick wash of beaten egg white acts as glue while also crisping into a thin protective shell during baking.

Making the indentation before baking lets the cookie set around the well, instead of cracking the way a post-bake thumb-press would. A teaspoon of jam goes into each well, where it bakes into a glossy, jewel-like center. Choose a thick, well-set jam; thin preserves run all over the pan.

Pro Tips

• Use cold dough. Warm dough sticks to your hands and the egg white runs off it.
• Crush the walnuts to a fine, even gravel. Big chunks fall off the cookie; flour-fine bits don’t read as nuts.
• Don’t overfill the wells. About ¾ teaspoon of jam per cookie is plenty; more bubbles over and burns on the pan.
• Let cool fully on the pan. Hot jam is molten and the dimples need to set before moving.

Variations

• Try a different jam in each cookie: raspberry, apricot, and strawberry make a colorful holiday tray.
• Substitute crushed pecans, almonds, or pistachios for the walnuts.
• Drizzle cooled cookies with a thin powdered-sugar glaze for an iced finish.