“Pumpkin Butter Thumbprint Cookies” For October's "National Cookie Month"

Years ago when I was a young girl, my grandmother lived with us. She had an apartment on the first floor and we lived upstairs. This was my mom’s mother Julia. I used to go down to visit her every day. She taught me many things and we always had fun. She had a cookie jar on top of her refrigerator that I absolutely loved. The funny thing about this cookie jar is that she never put cookies in it. She used to use it to keep her coupons and some change in the jar. I didn’t care, I just loved it. Many years later when my grandmother passed away, I asked my mom to please hold the cookie jar for me, which was all I wanted to remember her by. Well, can you guess the rest? My mom had a garage sale and accidentally sold it. I was totally crushed. This cookie jar was nothing special, at the time it was more of a remembrance of my grandmother. Many years later I realized that the cookie jar was a pottery called "Shawnee" which was made in Ohio. This one was called “Dutch Girl” Cookie Jar (1945?). Every yard and garage sale I went to I would look for this type of jar, but to no avail I never found it, until one day…….

Grandma Julia

Salamanca is a small town located in the Southern Tier of NY state. I lived there when I re-married. One day my husband, Rick said, “Let’s take a ride, there is this big antique shop, and we can look around.” We were not interested in purchasing anything, but just liked to get ideas. The ride was lovely as the leaves were changing colors on the trees, and the mountain side looked like a kaleidoscope. This antique place was huge and had 7 levels to it. It looked like it was an old barn that they converted into this store. As I entered it was tremendous and so many things to look at. You could really spend a day there. I saw many vintage things that I had remembered seeing in my mom and grandmother’s house. I never even thought about the cookie jar. As we were climbing the stairs we ended up on the 6th level and I said to Rick, “I am tired, you go up to the top and I will wait here.” He went up to the top and seemed to be up there for a while. Now rested a bit I climbed up the last flight of steps and turned to the right…wait for it…

"Dutch Girl" Shawnee Pottery

YES, the cookie jar was staring right at me!!! I couldn’t believe it, it was like a miracle! I started calling out, “Rick, look it is the cookie jar.” Now I know that there are many out there of the same "Dutch Girl" by Shawnee, but this one I really believe was my grandmother’s. It had a little tiny chip in the back and she used to put a rubber band on the top of the jar just to keep it from rattling. This one had the chip and it even had the rubber band around the top. Well, you can imagine how amazed I was and so happy that I finally had that cookie jar to remember my grandmother, Julia. A cookie jar brings a smile to everyone's face, whether young or old. Many are taken back to their mom or grandma's kitchen with the smell of cinnamon wafting in the air and the selection of that one "perfect" cookie taken carefully from her cookie jar. It's those childhood memories that we kept in our hearts. 

This story about my cookie jar brings me to the topic of this post which happens to be, that October is “National Cookie Month.” I know you must be saying Cookie Month that should be in December for the holidays? Let me tell you that no matter what month cookies are celebrated in, everyone loves them, with milk, a cup of tea, or just as a special treat. Nothing says family and home than the aroma of cookies baking in the oven when you went home after school. Before doing your homework, reaching in that cookie jar and taking out some homemade cookies with a tall glass of milk, was really a comfort. There are so many varieties of cookies, either gooey, chewy, or crunchy. Coated with sugar, or cinnamon, filled with nuts, raisins or chocolate chips, no one can resist a cookie…   
    

Here is a little info on “National Cookie Month.” In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat baked dessert. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have different meanings a cookie is a plain bun in Scotland, while in the United States a biscuit is a kind of quick bread not unlike a scone. Its name derives from the Dutch word koekje or (informal)  koekie which means little cake, and arrived in the English language through the Dutch in North America. It spread from American English to British English where biscuit is still the more general term. Don’t forget the first week in December is Cookie Cutter Week and December 4th is National Cookie Day. (resource: Wikipedia)

This recipe is a spectacular cookie called “Pumpkin Butter Thumbprint Cookies.” If you don’t want to use pecans, you can use any type of nuts you like, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or even a combination. The flavor makes you think of the time of the season, yummy! Don’t forget to put the rest of the cookies in your cookie jar. (If you have any left!) Enjoy!

“Pumpkin Butter Thumbprint Cookies”

Ingredients:
1 Cup &  2 Tbsp whole pecans
1 Cup of all purpose flour
1 stick of unsalted butter
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 Tsp salt
1 Tsp of good vanilla extract
Powdered sugar
Pumpkin butter (Can be found at Trader Joe's or homemade))
Or your favorite jam--Apricot is a good one to use

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F  In a food processor process the nuts until they resemble coarse cornmeal. Do not over-process otherwise you'll end up with pecan butter. Then add the sugar, salt, and flour to the nuts and pulse a few more times until there are no distinguishable pieces of nuts. Cream the butter with a hand or stand mixer then add the extract and mix. Add the processed pecans and flour and mix until the dough comes together. Scoop about 1 1/2 teaspoons balls of dough. I use a 1-tablespoon cookie dough scooper and break up the dough in half for 1 1/2 teaspoons. Roll the dough into a ball and press an indentation in the center of the cookie with your finger or the back of your measuring spoons. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, they will be lightly colored but not too brown. Wait until the cookies are completely cool then dust them lightly with powdered sugar. Then fill the centers with pumpkin butter or jam. You may need to warm the pumpkin butter or jam so you can fill the cookies. The filling will set as it cools.


Till Next Time……………………………….....

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