The egg white is to make the nuts stick...dip them in sugar if you want....but they will be fine without... The sugar will stick better with the egg....but some will stick without the egg. Frankly, I wouoldn't dip them in either egg or sugar. Linda C

Oh yes Maureen they sure do make it. Should be able to find it in most any baking supply place. The craft places probably even carry it these days. Did you ever eat Toblerone or some of the Italian nougat stuff? That had edible paper on it. Made of rice if I recall correctly. This modern stuff is better though. You can Google it to find out what might be near you. If you did that though you'd want to use the edible ink markers. Yes, those are cool too. LOL.. The regular parchment paper would be a nice simple solution, since you might get real complicated with rest of meal before we get done with ya. Smiles. LOL at the bling. Well, I was just trying to think of what a diploma thing might have on the edges.

Here's a couple thumbprint cookies that are tried & true. Imake them every year. Chocolate Caramel Treasures Cookie type: formed These are another variation of thumbprint cookie. This recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, December 1999. Ingredients For the cookies: 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 teas vanilla 1 cup flour 2 tbsp whole milk 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teas salt 1 egg white, lightly beaten 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts For the filling: 10 (1 x 1/2 inch) plain caramels, 2 tbsp heavy cream For the drizzle: 3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped Directions For the cookies: Beat together butter, yolk, milk, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Sift in flour, cocoa, and salt and mix until mixture forms a dough. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, then coat with egg white, and roll in nuts. Place balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased baking sheets. Press your thumb into center of the balls to flatten, leaving a depression. Bake until puffed slightly but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press centers of cookies again with a spoon. Let cool. Make the filling while cookies are cooling. Heat caramels and cream in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and mixture is smooth. Spoon into centers of cookies and cool completely. Make chocolate drizzle one hour before serving. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Cool to warm and pour into a heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Seal bag and snip 1 corner to form a small hole. Drizzle chocolate over cookies and let stand until set, about 30 minutes. *I never bother with the drizzle. I also usually use walnuts and not hazelnuts. ***************** Austrian Jam Cookies Cookie type: formed My mom originally got the recipe out of a magazine years ago. I don’t know what magazine. These cookies nowadays go by the name thumb print cookies. I like to call them Austrian Jam cookies because they sound more sophisticated that way. I usually double the batch. A single batch will make about 15-18 cookies. A double batch, you will get closer to 3 dozen. Ingredients 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened (not melted) 1/2 cup sugar 1 teas vanilla* 1 egg, separated 1 1/4 cup sifted flour 2/3 cup chopped almonds** your favorite flavor of jam Directions Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk in a medium bowl until fluffy. Stir in flour. Gather dough into a ball, cover and chill for several hours. Roll level teaspoonful of dough into balls. Dip the ball into a slightly beaten egg white. Roll the ball into the almonds. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Space cookies 1 inch apart. These cookies will not spread very much. Press an indentation with your thumb in the middle of the cookie, careful not to go all the way through to the pan. Fill with jam. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. *Almond extract can be used in place of real vanilla. ** Generally, I think the almonds are a little too hard for the rest of the cookie. I usually use walnuts or pecans. I like using Polaners preserves for the jam centers. I have also used Smuckers as well as homemade jam.

I don't know what kind of cocoa you used but unless it's Dutch process, it will have a bit of a bitter taste.....due to the alkalai used in the processing. You can't successfully substitite cocoa powder for semi sweet chocolate.....you are also forgetting that semi sweet chocolate contains some sugar....as well as the cocoa butter removed to make the powder. Here's a recipe using just cocoa powder......it's simple enough, but not outrageously chocolate as Martha Stewart's. But if you try to sub milk for the yogurt or oil for the butter, they won't turn out.....they need the acid of the yogurt, brown sugar and the cocoa to make them light. COCOA FUDGE COOKIES 1 cup flour ¼ tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 5 Tbsp butter 7 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt 1 tsp vanilla extract Cooking spray 1. Preheat oven to 350° 2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, soda and salt; set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. 3. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2-3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen cookies.