Check out the Strawberry Jam post for some super simple freezer jam.

Thumb Print Butter Cookies – (from Simply Recipes)

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup preserves or jam (I enjoy strawberry jam)

In a mixing bowl or bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter.  Make sure that the butter is at room temperature or this is really gonna get messy.

Separate two eggs to get the egg yolks.  Save the egg whites in a freezer safe dish and freeze them.  Save them for egg white omlets or whenever you need some egg whites.  Just thaw in the refrigerator over night before you need them.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the butter mixture.  Mix until combined.

Slowly add the flour and salt until the ingredients are just combined.  Once combined place the dough into the refrigerator and let it set up for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.  Portion the dough into tablespoon sized balls.  Place the balls on the sheet pan and press your thumb into them.  This will make the indent for the jam and give the cookies their name.  I used a 1 1/2 inch ring to make sure that all of the cookies came out round.  This is not necessary, but helps out when you want perfectly round uniform cookies.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Once you have all of the cookies made fill them with a teaspoon of your favorite jam.  I prefer strawberry but Dana really enjoys apricot.  Personal preference, I will not judge.

Place the sheet pan in the middle rack of the oven and cook at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Cook until the cookies are slightly firm and slightly starting to brown.  Allow the cookies to cool on the pan until firm and then transfer to wire rack to completely cool.

These cookies were excellent.

They are perfectly balanced.

Once container of the jam lasts about 3 weeks in the refrigerator, but in reality it is eaten in a couple of days.

Strawberry Freezer Jam – (from Sure Jell)

• 1lb Strawberries (2 quarts)
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 box pectin (1.75 oz box)
  
• 6 – 1 cup plastic containers with tight fitting lids – (Ball makes perfect 1 cup freezer jars with screw on lids.)
  

The first step is to wash the plastic containers to make sure that they are clean.

Wash the strawberries and remove the stems.

Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor and crush the fruit.  My family enjoys smooth jam so we puree the strawberries.  If you like the jam chunky, lightly crush the strawberries in the food processor.

After crushing the strawberries, measure them to get exactly 2 cups of crushed strawberries.  1 lb should be perfect, but each batch of strawberries is slightly different.  Place the crushed strawberries into a bowl.

Add the 4 cups of sugar to the 2 cups of strawberries and stir.  Let the strawberries sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the strawberries are sitting, in a sauce pan add 1 box of pectin to 3/4 cup of water.  Constantly stirring, bring the pectin mixture to a boil.  When it reaches a boil, start the timer for one minute.  Make sure to constantly stir the mixture.  When the minute is up, remove the mixture from the heat.

Add the pectin mixture to the bowl of strawberries.  Stir the mixture for 3-4 minutes or until all of the sugar is dissolved.  If you see grains of sugar, continue to stir.

When all of the sugar is dissolved, pour the mixture into the six containers.  Make sure to leave a half inch gap at the top to allow for expansion.  I find that using a funnel helps to fill the jars without getting the Jam all over the place.  Once the jam is evenly distributed, add the lids to the containers.  Let the jam sit at room temperature for 24 hours so that it sets.  Then place the jam in the refrigerator for 3 weeks or in the freezer for up to a year.

You can refrigerate opened jars of jam for up to three weeks.

I would like to thank my parents for helping me out with this one.  Thanks Mom and Dad.