Thanksgiving Vacation Cookies!

I made 2 kinds of cookies during Thanksgiving vacation this year. The first kind of cookie I made was called "Thumbprint cookies," which I decided to make for my Mom, because they are egg-less. The other kind of cookie I made was based on a recipe I got from one of my graduate school interviewers! They're based on a recipe published by Neiman Marcus, and they are a variation of chocolate chip cookies! It's an urban legend that a woman accidentally paid $250 for the cookie recipe from Neiman Marcus, and after paying such a large sum of money for a cookie recipe, decided to spread the recipe to everyone she knew! I dont know if the story is true, but I do know that my friends and family loved them!

Cookie #1: Thumbprint cookies


¼ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp milk
¼ cup cornstarch
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
Jam (I used raspberry jam with seeds from Trader Joe's)

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cream together butter, sugar and salt. Beat in vanilla, milk and cornstarch. Stir in flour until just combined.
Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in coarse sugar. Place on baking sheet and make a shallow indentation with your thumb. Fill indentation with a bit of lime curd or jam.
Bake tarts for 12-13 minutes, until cookies just start to brown.
Cool on a wire rack.

Note: I also used a tablespoon of apple sauce because the dough felt dry to me

Cookie #2: Neiman Marcus cookies

1 cups butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal (Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder)
12 oz. chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 - 4 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1. Cream the butter and both sugars.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts.
3. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 48 cookies.

Thanks for the recipe, April! (This is where I got the recipe- http://community.livejournal.com/cooking/265929.html)