Hoo'ville

I'm not entirely sure when owls became the new cool thing. But I have to admit that I think they're cute. Not real owls. Just cute big eyed type cartoon owls.

So of course, since I seem to have a lot of extra time on my hands right now, I decided to sew a little stuffed owl. It was really easy, and used only scraps of fabrics I already had on hand. I even stuffed it with extra scraps of fleece (because fleece scraps are still soft and cuddly...I'm not sure other scraps would be as comfortable).

(No, the top of my head isn't sewn yet. Alina doesn't own any hand needles. woops)

On another note, we've been buying cookies from the bakery section at Whole Foods. They are surprisingly delicious, and not so surprisingly very expensive. In an effort to be more budget-savvy, I decided to try making our favorites: Almond Raspberry Thumbprints.

I used almond flour along with regular flour to get a nice nutty-marzipany taste in the cookie, and also used chopped up almonds to coat (salted...adds a nice salty-sweet combo). They did not turn out quite like the store-bought ones, but they are yummy enough that out of the dozen I bake last night there is only one left...

(Mmm...marzipan and raspberry....Mmmm)

They were surprisingly easy to make, I think the trick is just to use Almond flour.

Almond Raspberry Thumbprints

1 stick of butter (non-salted, softened)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg separated

1/2 cup almond flour

1 1/4 cup AP flour

finely chopped almonds

raspberry jam (I used bonne maman raspberry jam because it's high quality and delicious)

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until very light. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Add the nut flour and the all-purpose flour, stirring until well blended. If the dough seems too sticky, add just enough additional flour to make it workable.

Cover and chill the dough for an hour. While the dough chills, cover the egg whites and leave them out of the refrigerator to warm up to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, whip the egg whites until they're foamy. Break off pieces of dough and roll them between your palms to form 1-inch balls. Dip the balls into the egg whites, and roll them in the chopped nuts. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes, then remove them from the oven. Make a deep thumbprint in the center of each cookie (I was scared of burning my thumb so I just used the back of a teaspoon). Fill the thumbring with small amount of jam and return to the oven, and bake until they’re a light, golden brown, 6-8 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

They will seem too soft and crumbly while hot, but they are completely baked. They harden once cooled.

Enjoy!

alina