Mom's Golden Thumbprints

I made these this morning feeling homesick. Because of some icy road conditions near my parents home, we weren't able to be there for Christmas. These cookies are ones that my Mom always made when I was growing up. I didn't have any walnuts in the house since I wasn't expecting to be doing any Christmas baking so I skipped that step. I used a ginger-rhubarb preserve that my husband had bought for me as a stocking stuffer as a filling.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 egg, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Cream together first four ingredients, save egg white for later use.
• Stir in the flour and salt.
• Roll inot 1 inch balls.
• Dip into slightly beaten egg white and roll in nuts.
• Bake 5 minutes, take out of oven and quickly indent each center with your thumb, fill the center with a small spoonful of jam of your choice.
• Bake again for 8 minutes.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Easy way to make the nuts finely chopped is to shred them in a food processor until fine.