Jelly Bean Thumbprint Cookies

This is another recipe I want to try at Christmas. It would be great to make at Easter too with the pastel jelly beans. You could also use other candies, like red and green M&Ms for Christmas. I thought it would be a fun recipe to do with the kids. However, you do need to do it over the course of 2 days because the dough has to be refrigerated for 8 hours. It's from Christmas With Southern Living 2007.

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 TBS. heavy whipping cream
assorted jelly beans
additional powdered sugar

Beat butter at medium speed with mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks and vanilla, beating until blended.

Combine flour and salt; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Cover and chill dough 8 hours.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Press thumb into each cookie to make an indentation.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 13 minutes. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; remove to wire racks. Make thumbprint indentations again while cookies are still warm; let cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar and heavy cream in a small bowl; stir with a fork until smooth. Spoon icing into a zip-top freezer bag; cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and squirt a small amount of icing into indentation in each cookie. Press jelly beans into center of each cookie. Let set. Dust cookies with powdered sugar. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

Layered Jello Salad

This recipe is from my friend Diane, who loves to cook. You don’t know how cool this salad looks until you’ve made it for yourself. When you cut it, it looks like a rainbow because you can see 12 different colors of jello. It is the perfect recipe for Easter and would be great in an Easter egg mold. You could adapt it to different holidays by changing the colors of jello (ex. Red and green for Christmas).

1 pint plain yogurt
6 small boxes of jello in different colors

Boil 1 cup water and dissolve 1 box of jello in it. Divide mixture in half. To one half, add 1/3 cup yogurt and pour in dish. Place dish in refrigerator to help congeal faster. To other half, add 3 TBS. cold water. Add to dish when first layer congeals. Repeat with remaining boxes of jello.