One of the many Christmas traditions I look forward to is making these jam thumbprint cookies. Inspired by Barefoot Contessa, these rich, buttery cookies have become a Christmas cookie classic in the Lee household and it’s almost expected that I make batches of these cookies for close friends and family. The toasted coconut, the sweet smell of jam and the buttery goodness fill the entire kitchen and it almost feels as if you’ve inhaled 3000 calories when you haven’t even taken a bite or licked the spoon. But who’s counting calories? Seriously. It’s the holidays and you’ve earned every bite to the very last crumb.

This year, I seem to have lost count on how many batches of cookies I made. When I’m in the kitchen, it’s serious business.  I’ve got the assembly down  to a T:  there’s the mixing of the dry and wet ingredients, the resting window, the balling of the dough, the dipping of the dough into the egg wash, the slathering of the coconut, the insertion of the thumb and the best part, the spooning of the flavored jams. It’s at least a four to six hour kitchen marathon and I don’t actually stop until I’ve filled the cookie boxes or tins. If you look at the size of the boxes, you can tell I went large, so I must have made at least a  gazillion cookies. But in the end, it’s worth it because these jam thumbprints are in high demand.

Well, I’m ready to pack these up while I munch on the “broken” cookies. Merry Christmas!!