m a s t i c a t e

Kentucky Jam Cake Cookies.

• Make your favorite thumbprint/roll cookie recipe. I used one from the Joy of Cooking. Use light brown sugar instead of white; add a teaspoon of cinnamon and half a teaspoon of allspice. Chill the dough, form it into balls.
• Rolling the edges in finely-chopped walnuts would be nice and extra-authentic, but I didn’t have any.
• Press your thumb (or other digit) into the dough. Fill the indentations with good blackberry jam.
• Bake per recipe instructions.
• Pro tip: if you disregard warnings about flour measuring methodology, your cookies will come out slightly crumbly — as mine did. They were delicious despite that, and also despite the fact that I made them exactly one week after the Kentucky Derby.