Do you have pepper jelly?  I do.  Lots of it.  My mom has made several batches from the bounty of the pepper plants in her garden.  It's SO good.  Aside from spooning the jelly over a block of cream cheese and devouring it with crackers (like any good Southerner should), I'm sometimes at a loss for what to do with pepper jelly.  It's not the kind of stuff you spread on toast or a peanut butter sandwich.

I found a recipe.  A recipe to utilize this spicy-sweet goodness.  Cheese-Jalapeno Jelly Thumbprints!

I made them this past weekend, and they turned out really good.  I made the dough the day before (do I say that too much?), and rolled them in pecans and baked them off the next day.  So easy!






Here is the recipe.

Cheese-Jalapeno Jelly Thumbprints

1 (8 oz.) block sharp white Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pecans, finely ground
1/3 cup jalapeno pepper jelly

Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor until blended.  Add flour, ground red pepper, and salt; process until dough forms a ball, stopping often to scrape down sides.  Shape dough into a flat disc; cover and chill at least 1 hour.

Let dough stand at room temperature 5 minutes.  Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in ground pecans.

Place balls 1" apart on baking sheets (ungreased and/or lined with parchment paper).  Press thumb in center of each ball to make an indentation.

Bake at 400 for 14 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately fill each center with a heaping 1/4 tsp jelly, pressing gently into cookie with back of spoon.  Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.  Makes about 3 dozen.  Enjoy!

Source:  Southern Living