Classic Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

My family’s classic Midwestern sour cream sugar cookie recipe got such a nice response on social media, that I’m back today sharing our thumbprint cookie recipe!

This recipe combines a salty nutty cookie with sweet jam, and it uses a special technique of baking the cookies for a bit first before making the thumbprints, which helps prevent the cookies from cracking quite so much.

What are Thumbprint Cookies?

Thumbprint cookies are a classic in the baking world, especially around Christmas!

The unique feature of these cookies is the indentation created by pressing your thumb into the center, which provides the perfect well for a delicious filling.

Types of Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies come in various flavors and with different fillings. Sometimes, they are made with a simple sugar cookie dough, and sometimes they are nutty.

The fillings can range from jams and preserves to chocolate, caramel or even something like Nutella. My mom actually fills hers with frosting!

The post Thumbprint Jam Cookies appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

We don’t take Valentine’s Day too seriously around here, but I do like it for one reason: it gives you an reason to cook or bake or eat something special in what is otherwise a pretty cold and dreary month.

I’m all about any excuse for a little celebration, so bring on the Valentine’s Day snacks and easy Valentine desserts. And please make me salmon piccata for dinner first.

Now that my daughter is old enough to understand this kind of silly holiday a little better, I also wanted to do a baking activity for just me and her, and I’m sorry to report that she doesn’t appreciate the wonders of chocolate creme brulee just yet.

So, we made these rich and buttery shortbread cookies that we thumbprinted with heart shapes and then filled with jam. These heart jam cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day, and they also reminded us of tea time in London!

The post Heart Jam Cookies (Shortbread Thumbprint) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Zombie Halloween Cupcakes are perfect for spooky season!

When I was pregnant, my daughter’s due date was early November. My husband and I hoped for a Halloween baby!

We dreamed of a homemade haunted house birthday party with my Halloween deviled eggs recipe and other Halloween food, and spooky cupcakes to take to school.

Well, she arrived only a few days early, a week after Halloween, and of course the only important thing was that she was happy and healthy.

So maybe these Halloween cupcakes won’t be for any of her birthday parties (maybe Black Forest cupcakes instead?), but we can always have a Halloween party as well!

Save the candy corn shots and Halloween charcuterie board for the adults, but these zombie brain cupcakes can be enjoyed by all ages!

The post Halloween Zombie Cupcakes appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, Jeff and I don’t take it too seriously. We *maybe* get each other cards, if we remember. But if somebody forgets, there’s no hard feelings.

I can’t remember the last time we got each other gifts, although one time Jeff did stop at a flower shop and buy me discounted flowers that WERE LEFT OVER FROM A FUNERAL (true story). Ah, romance.

So it should come as no surprise that we also usually avoid restaurant meals, figuring we can go out to eat (and get better service and not a stupid prix fixe menu) any other day of the year.

We usually just consider the day an excuse to cook something more delicious for dinner than usual, like salmon pasta made with sockeye salmon, or lasagna cottage cheese.

Or sometimes even just a board filled with Valentine’s Day snacks and a couple of rosemary cocktails is all we need for “dinner”.

And if we want something sweet but ridiculously easy, I’ll make something like these Valentine’s dessert shooters.

The post Valentine’s Dessert Shooters appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

While you generally won’t find me going out to a fancy restaurant for a pre fixe dinner on Valentine’s Day, I still like to mark the occasion in some way at home.

Sometimes I’ll make a special Valentine’s Day dinner of lasagna cottage cheese or my crab-stuffed salmon recipe but other years, it’s just easy Valentine’s dessert shooters after a takeout pizza.

And sometimes I’ll just feel like snacking with fun charcuterie board ideas and following it up with some chocolate creme brulee.

You all know I love an epic snack board, as I’ve already shared everything from my wine and cheese board to a spooky Halloween charcuterie board to a fall-themed Thanksgiving charcuterie board.

Whether you’re hosting a Galentine’s party for the girls, or having a cozy night in with your sweetie, why not put together a Valentine’s Day snack platter of your own this year? I’ll explain it all, including the best way to make heart shaped food, below.

The post Valentine’s Day Snacks (& Heart Shaped Food) appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

Hi hi hi! I made us another option for my list of charcuterie ideas. I’ve been absolutely obsessed with early fall produce lately. It’s not quite time for sweet dumpling squash and pumpkin yet, but it IS time for figs and concord grapes!

If you’ve never tried a fresh fig before, I would recommend you hightail it to your local fig purveyor, buy yourself one, and give it a try. I used to think I hated figs, but that was probably because I had one bad fig, one time.

The figs this year (they’re in season right now!) are awesome, and they’re my temporary favorite food until further notice.

If you do indeed decide that you like figs, Step 2 would be to make a batch of my Ginger Pickled Figs. And then build an autumn cheese board (or even a Halloween meat and cheese tray or jarcuterie), like so:

(more…)

The post Autumn Cheese Board with Ginger Pickled Figs appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.

You know that episode of Friends where Joey is obsessed with jam? As in, his mom used to drop him off at the movies with a jar of jam and a spoon?

That’s pretty much my husband. Jeff is a jam fanatic, so it’s rare to have an untouched jar of jam in my house that I can use for baking. But I outsmarted him this time!

(more…)

The post Oatmeal Jam Bars appeared first on Foxes Love Lemons.