Summer has arrived! After the obstinate winter and temperamental spring we’ve had this year, I was convinced that New York was going to throw down the humid-est of humid New York summers on us, just to be the cruelest mistress it could possibly be. But instead, the universe has reminded me Cynthia, be a smidge more optimistic — and this summer has been nothing short of spectacular (so far). With the exception of a few rainy days earlier this month, June has been just an abundance of breezy, cool mornings, warm summer nights, and gentle sunshine.
On the table, there’s been tart raspberries and ripe figs, icy-cold affogatos and our first homemade corn on the cob. Off the table, we’ve had lazy afternoon strolls, evenings with cool air wafting in through open windows. A balmy, sun-soaked picnic in Prospect Park, where I met the most incredibly lovely people, gave my shoulders a good toasting, and my heart to this little guy. The days are gloriously long, the kind where you get home after a long productive trek and find that it’s only 3 PM, the sunlight is streaming through the windows, and you still have practically an entire day laid out before you — one of my favorite feelings.
The summeriest holiday of them all is, somehow, already coming up this Friday. (As an aside, is it just me, or do summer holidays become a thousand times more wonderful in the working world?) In celebration, I thought I’d share a blue-and-white recipe that is, if just shy of appropriate for Fourth of July, is at least appropriate for your own summer picnics. I’ve already sung the blackberry-goat cheese song earlier on this blog, but when I came across the idea of using goat cheese in cookies (and was totally, instantly, incurably smitten), it was a pairing I had to revisit.
These cookies went through a little bit of an odyssey to get to where they are. I originally thought I’d use blackberry syrup in Lindsay’s goat cheese sugar cookie to do some kind of blackberry swirl, which was maybe great in theory and messy, melty, and zero percent cute in practice. Then I came upon the idea of thumbprints, but with a sugar cookie base, they looked only like thumbprints before baking and more like diseased sugar-blackberry-discs after. Finally, this batch gave me what I was looking for — a pillowy cookie with less sugar and just the right goat-cheesiness, that cradled just the right amount of blackberry jam and goat cheese in its dimple and held its shape stolidly through baking. Add a touch of raspberry or strawberry jam, and you’d have yourself a grand old Fourth of July cookie, I think. 🙂 Wishing you all a lovely long weekend.
Blackberry & goat cheese thumbprint cookies.
- Yield: 16-18 small cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp fresh goat cheese, softened
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- for filling:
- 1 cup blackberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh goat cheese
- 1–2 tsp milk
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Set aside.
- Combine sugar, goat cheese, and butter in a large bowl and whisk until mixture is pale and creamy. Whisk in egg yolk and vanilla extract. Fold in the dry ingredients until incorporated and a dough forms. Chill the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the blackberries.
- Mash the blackberries until they are crushed as much as possible. Combine blackberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small pot and turn the heat to medium. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring continuously, or until berries have cooked into a thick gel. Set aside and let cool. (The jam will thicken as it cools.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Scoop about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Place the ball on the cookie sheet and press an indentation in the dough to form a hollow for the jelly. Repeat with the rest of the dough, placing the balls about 1-2 inches apart (they will not spread too much).
- Place about a half-teaspoon of blackberry jam into each of the dough indentations, or enough to fill it. Combine goat cheese, a splash of milk, and powdered sugar in a pinch bowl. Microwave for 10 seconds to make the mixture slightly thinner and easier to swirl. Place a dot of goat cheese (or as much as desired) into each dough hollow. If you like, you can take a toothpick and run it through the cheese to swirl the jam and cheese together.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are set at the edges. The cookies will be pale and soft, but the cookie should be able to lift away from the sheet and the bottom should be just golden. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Anne
You’re so lucky! We have had rain nearly every other day and its been humid and hot. So, basically the opposite of you! 🙂
Those cookies look divine!! Do you want to share? 😉
tworedbowls
Bummer!!! Well, rest assured that we’ll be getting sticky-muggy over here before too long too. (In fact, this morning was pretty soupy.) Thanks so much, Anne!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
This is such an awesome flavour combo for a cookie!! So impressed – these sound great!
tworedbowls
Thanks so much, Katrina!! 🙂
movita beaucoup
It’s as hot an humid as an armpit here. But when things cool down? I’m all over these.
tworedbowls
BOO for armpit weather! The pits are closing slowly over New York too, I can just feel it. But at least it was nice while it lasted.
thelittleloaf
Gorgeousness! Happy summer 🙂
tworedbowls
Thank you so much, Kate!!! And you! 🙂
Jessica Rose
I like the idea of goats cheese in here…as it’s not something I would eat in combination with blackberries…sounds like I’m missing out!!
http://vodkaandarose.blogspot.co.uk
tworedbowls
Ooh, I hope you try it!!! I’ve put a bit of goat cheese directly in the jam before in the past and that’s been incredible, too. Somehow the creaminess from the goat cheese really smooths out any tartness in the jam. Totally obsessed 🙂
leahgreenbergdavis
These look so dreamy!! I have been looking for a thumbprint without almonds since my husband is allergic so I will have to give these a try! They sound delicious! Happy 4th!
tworedbowls
Oooh, I hope these are what you were looking for! Boo for food allergies 🙁 Thank you so much, Leah!
Tieghan
New York sounds amazing right now. I need to finally get there and visit that city!
And these cookies!! Love the combo of blackberries and goat cheese!
tworedbowls
Haaa, I spoke too soon — just as I published this it got hot as all get out here. Oops… But still! Come visit in a few months!! 😉 Thank you so much, Tieghan!
Lindsey
ugh, you’ve painted such a lovely picture of what summer is, i don’t think i could have said it any better.
and how cute/beautiful are these cookies! i remember utilizing cheese in baked goods, and how it offered a creamy, tanginess to it all – yum! and what can i say about blackberries…just one of the prettiest berries there ever!
*btw, quint is totally honored to have your <3 can't express how lovely it was finally meeting you! xo
tworedbowls
Ahhh, right back at you times a million, Lindsey! You are even lovelier in person — which I didn’t think was possible! 😉 I hope you have a fantastic trip this week <3
erika
ERMEGERD THESE LOOK AMAZING. I’m so so glad you’re obsessed with goat cheese instead of the cream cheese that’s so often used in baking (which I can’t really stand). Because goat cheese + anything = delicious!!! So happy you’ve been able to enjoy some lovely NYC weather!! These cookies are by far my favorite 4th of July-ish tribute I’ve seen this year 🙂
tworedbowls
Hahaha awww! I know, goat cheese in cookies was such a revelation for me! I tried these with some aged goat cheese (like Vermont Creamery’s bonne bouche) and that was even more nuts. Thanks so much for the sweet words, Erika!
erika
I finally got around to make these for a hot cocoa bar party last night on recommendation from my co-host and Cynthia, they were SO GOOD!!! I just wish blackberries were in season (I used raspberry jam instead) so I could make these exactly as you wrote them. But I looooved the goat cheese touch. Fantastic recipe, lady!!!
erika
*to making. Geez.
Sara
Yums, blackberries are my eeeeverything.
tworedbowls
Right? Totally nature’s candy!
Stephanie @ Girl Versus Dough
Can these actually be 1st of July cookies? Because I can’t wait until this weekend to eat them. 🙂
tworedbowls
Hahaha!! I am so down with that.
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
Yum! Love the flavor combo here and I love thumbprint cookies as a principle 🙂
tworedbowls
Aren’t thumbprints so fun? Thanks so much, Medha 🙂
Pang
Last night I told myself, OK Pang, you had to be on diet for awhile because your jean has been too tight lately, and then I came to your blog and my diet was over!!!! This cookie is too good to be ignored, and I love goat cheese with anything under the sun. <3 <3 <3 your post, Cynthia 🙂
tworedbowls
Hahaha oh nooo! I’m torn between feeling guilty and feeling like you should definitely try these cookies. Hahaha. Thanks so much, Pang!
Sini | my blue&white kitchen
Yay! Love this recipe (and how you like to use toothsticks). Goat cheese in cookies just blows my mind… Once again, something to get extremely excited about on Two Red Bowls. Also, I’m happy to hear June in NYC has been kind to you so far. Maybe I should just book a flight and pay you a visit since June has been (very) unusually cold here in Scandinavia. I mean 60ºF…HONESTLY?!?!? [I’m, however, happy to announce that warmer weather has been forecasted for later this week. 70ºC doesn’t sound that bad anymore, right?]
Wishing you a wonderful long weekend, dear Cynthia.
Millie | Add A Little
First, the cookies look so sophisticated and delicious! And secondly, I am jealous of the weather where you’re at Cynthia! In London it’s like one day sunny, one day rain. My hair is frizzing up like NOTHING else!
Have a lovely week 🙂
stephanie
ohmygosh these look amazing cynthia!! i LOVE the idea of goat cheese in a thumbprint cookie. i’ve always had a soft spot for thumbprints 🙂 have a wonderful long weekend!
dinnersforwinners
How long has it been since I made thumbprints!! Too long 🙂 These are just lovely! I agree that these are more sophisticated than the usual cream cheese used in baking — but still so down-to-earth and I’m sure so tasty! Gorgeous idea, gorgeous photos. If it is too hot this week (99 forecast for today) for baking cookies, I’m at least making the jam for my morning granola! WOOT
cakeoversteak
Beautiful post, Cynthia. I totally agree with you on the whole summer-is-awesome thing. And SO NICE TO MEET YOU ON SUNDAY!!! Ohmygosh Robert and I keep talking about how ridiculously cute and sweet you are. Let’s hang out again soon, yes?!?!?
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
What stunning cookies, the filling is gorgeous!
renee (will frolic for food)
These are so gorgeous! thumbprints have been the bane of my cookie experiments as of the last year, though i think i could make these with spelt or einkorn (which i tolerate better than regular wheat) and they might hold up! i hear you on thumbprint cookie difficulties. i’ve been all over the spectrum with thumbprint cookie fails.
also, blackberry jam + goat cheese…. revelations all over the internet today, that being one of them. GIMME ALL THE BLACKBERRIES AND GOAT CHEEZZZZEE. in my mouth.
wallflourgirl
Your descriptions of your glorious summer afternoons just make me want to frolic around the nearest meadow, wherever that may be. And with these cookies, too! And amen to the working world bringing out the best in holidays–a smidge sad (but I’ll take what I can get too, eh?). Hope you’re celebrating your weather even more!
Chloe {i heart boxes}
These look wonderful! What an original combination: goat cheese and blackberries…I don’t think I would ever have thought of pairing those two. Beautiful pictures!
maria
oh i love the idea of goat cheese in desserts!
Valentina @Hortus
Aw, aren’t these the best 4th of July cookies 🙂 That holiday is just so magical in NY! I hope you soak up all this beautiful NY weather, and that there’ll be stories of July 4th over there! I was there 2 years ago, at a rooftop right on the Hudson. Amazing <3
mandylee@ladyandpups
you have lovely hands… sometimes my hands in my photo startles me… but not yours….
Jessica @ Sweet Menu
Aww these are soooo sweet! Gorgeous photos!
cococakeland
oooh these are so pretty… and pillowy looking! ^__^ who wouldn’t want to nestle their head into one of those beautiful cookie dough divots… so dainty with the lil toothpick dollop! these sound scrumptious, and i love not-too-sweet! xo
molly yeh
yes, these are absolutely the cutest thumbprint cookies i ever done seen. definitely will help me make my case to get a pet goat.
Kathryn
Woohoo for the summer and blackberries and cute little cookies that I want to eat approx 1,000 of!
cookienameddesire
These look divine. I’ve also been having a little trouble finding a good thumbprint cookie base. Most end up horrible globs of mess after baking or way too sweet or eggy. This looks…. perfect. and the goats cheese + blackberry combination is the best 🙂
Kulsum
oh the summer’s in our part of the world are nothing like yours. Brutal, really. These look beautiful! regardless!
Irene @ {a swoonful of sugar}
Beautifulll! I’ve been loving fruits with cheese in baked goods lately, your cookies look and sound great! Glad you came up with a solution to presenting these cookies thumbprint style 😉
Nik@ A Brown Table
These are pretty cookies and surely tasty ones for July 4th. I’m with you about summer after the previous winter, I’m savoring every moment of sunshine. Hope you have a great weekend!
Sarah @ The Woks of Life
I second Mandy’s hand comment! My hands look freakay in food photos. I try not to do it.
Oh, and also these cookies look awesome. : )
Jessica (Coco/Mingo)
Omg, these are seriously 4th of July cookies, lady! I can’t stop staring at your photos because they make me drool! They look SO good, and I can’t wait to try to make them! Hope you’re doing great, my dear, enjoy your weekend and 4th of July and I’ll email you soon! xoxo
meganmarie013
Yum! Those look amazing!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
These are beautiful! Blackberry season is about to start here in Washington. I’m so ready!
teelo
Would you have to store the cookies in the fridge? I’d imagine you’d want to right?
tworedbowls
Hmm, good question! It’s probably best to refrigerate your leftovers, but they’ll be fine at room temperature for at least 8-10 hours. I don’t recall whether I stored mine in the fridge (we ate them all pretty quickly, ha!) but if I did, it wasn’t until that night, and I baked them up in the morning.
emily
YOU. I think you know what that means. (Also loving: stolidly. And your thumb printing in action.) xoxo.
Skye
I think that we managed to catch the few rainy days when we were in New York last month… Probably brought it with us from London…
These look so delightful, Cynthia – love the blackberry and cheese combo – classic. I’m feeling hungry just from looking at your (beautiful!) photos! 🙂
A Great Pear
Yum, I absolutely love the flavor combinations here! These cookies look absolutely delicious (not to mention I’m a huge fan of goat cheese), I’ll definitely have to try them soon!
DessertForTwo
These sound so dreamy!
Rosanna
Wow, love the sound of that flavour combination. I am going to have to try these!
ileana
These are lovely. 🙂 The flavor combination sounds wonderful.
Sweet Laurel (@sweetlaurelblog)
This is a crazy question, but I adore that plate (and the beautiful cookies sitting on it!) so much….would you happen to remember where you got it? It’s absolutely gorgeous. 🙂
tworedbowls
Oh, thank you so much!! Not crazy at all! 🙂 I actually got it off eBay — it’s a Wilton Armetale Queen Anne-style pewter salad plate. You can find sets of them if you search “Wilton Armetale plate,” “Queen Anne plate,” “pewter plate” or any combination of that. Hope you find some you like!!
Sweet Laurel (@sweetlaurelblog)
My hero!! Thank you! The search is on. 😉
Zach
You should really specify in your recipe that these aren’t sweet cookies at all, they have more of a biscuit flavor than anticipated. Very misleading.
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