These buttery thumbprint cookies combine Oregon grown hazelnuts and Marionberries. Start with little balls of chilled dough, create a “thumbprint” indentation, dip in sugar and nuts, and then fill with jam. The taste of hazelnuts and sweet Marionberry jam is an absolutely perfect taste combination.

Hazelnuts are grown primarily in the state of Oregon in the USA, along with Turkey and Italy. Marionberries are named for Marion County, the Oregon County where they originated. Marionberries, a cross between Chehalem and Ollalie berries, were developed by Oregon State University's Agricultural Research and Development Program in Corvallis, Oregon, beginning in 1945, and finally introduced in 1956.

Hazelberries

Ingredients:

Dough:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup hazelnuts (filberts), toasted, skinned, and finely ground

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Tip: See Toasting Nuts and Seeds for toasting and skinning hazelnuts

 Filling:

¼ cup hazelnuts (filberts), toasted, skinned, and finely ground

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

About 2/3 cup Marionberry jam (or raspberry or blackberry jam)

Directions:

Dough:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour and ground hazelnuts; whisk together to mix. Set aside.
   
   
2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar; mix together until well combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add vanilla extract; mix until thoroughly blended. Add flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
   
   
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 large baking sheets; lightly grease with shortening, or line with parchment paper, or line with a non-stick baking mat.
   
   Filling:
4. In a small bowl, combine ground hazelnuts and sugar. Set aside.
   
   
5. Shape chilled dough into small balls, about 1” in diameter.  Dip tops of cookies in nut and sugar mixture. Tip: A small ice cream scoop is ideal for making uniform-sized cookies.
   
   
6. Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. With your thumb or index finger, press an indentation in the center of each ball to hold the filling. Tip: instead of using your finger, use a wooden spoon with a rounded handle; make a deep indentation with the tip of the handle in the center of each cookie. If the dough sticks dip the tip in flour before pressing.
   
   
7. Fill the center of each cookie with about ½ teaspoon Marionberry jam. Do not overfill or the jam will run over while baking. Tip: to fill the cookies neatly, use a teaspoon, point the tip of the spoon down into the indentation and slide the preserves off with another spoon or your fingertip.
   
   Bake:
8. Bake 15 minutes or until cookies are set and very lightly browned. Remove cookies from baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on a wire cooling rack to cool.
   
   TheBakingPan.com
   
   Recipe adapted from Oregonian FOODday, December 2006
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