Inside scoop: These Chai Spiced Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies are made completely grain-free, and are a perfect low-sugar treat.
Thumbprint cookies are all the rage in this household, don’t ya know?
Short but sweet story, on Wednesdays my near 3-year-old likes to cook with me (she’s not in pre-school this day). I’ve tried my hardest to groom her to love the idea of cooking and baking with me. Partly, because I am usually testing recipes on Wednesdays, but also, because I love our bonding time, and the time spent teaching her this new and incredibly valuable skill.
Anywho, over the past couple weeks Olivia has actively been asking for ‘thumbprint peanut butter and jam cookies’ – this is what she calls them, no joke.
I don’t know if it’s because she likes to dab her thumb in the middle of the cookie, or if she likes to lick the spoon with the jam on it, or if it’s simply because these gluten-free thumbprint cookies taste amazing. Whatever the case may be, these thumbprint cookies are all the rage!
HEALTHY GLUTEN-FREE THUMBPRINT COOKIES WITH LOW SUGAR APRICOT JAM
I love that my daughter LOVES these cookies. I mean, I LOVE these cookies, hubby loves these cookies, you can’t really go wrong.
They are nutty (and made completely peanut-free), contain just the right amount of warming spices, and one of our favourite parts about these gluten-free thumbprint cookies is the whole jam element.
We came across Crofter’s Organic fruit spreads a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back ever since. Crofter’s is actually one of our top recommendations if you love jam or jelly but don’t want to make your own and are looking for a healthier alternative.
JUST CHECK OUT THE BENEFITS OF CROFTER’S FRUIT SPREADS:
- VSOA organic & non-GMO project verified
- 33% less sugar than traditional preserves
- Sweetened with fair-trade cane sugar
- Vegan, vegetarian & gluten-free
So, they definitely make the perfect jam topping for these gluten-free thumbprint cookies, and we absolutely love the apricot element being just the right flavour profile to fit with the nuttiness (oh they’re sooo nuttttty) of the cookie, and the wintery spices that they contain.
Bonus points for Crofter’s Organic, they also have a line of fruit spread called ‘Just Fruit’, which are naturally sweetened with grape juice concentrate, which is perfect for those who are avoiding added sugars.
Love it, you really can’t go wrong with their fruit spreads, and kids also love them too because they have a cute little bear as a mascot… just saying.
THE PERFECT WINTER COOKIE
These Chai & Apricot Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies can also be made raw, are completely gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, have a low amount of added sugar, contain healthy fats, and are high in protein, which sounds nice and healthy and maybe a little bit misleading?
And we mean misleading, because they are great for you, but they also taste really delicious!
You will want to make these thumbprint cookies on a regular basis, as already stated – all the rage!
Anything but boring, and they make eating healthy cookies quite enjoyable.
We’ve also been enjoying simple recipes like this one that require no stand mixer, or cooking…recipes that keep it nice, quick and healthy with minimal ingredients and minimal prep.
However, we would recommend making these cookies in a food processor or making sure the nuts are finely ground if mixing in a bowl.
In the meantime, make sure you check out some of our other nutty sweet treat recipes, like one of our all-time favourite Salted Chocolate Nut Butter Cups or our Chewy Stove-top No Bake Cookies (both in which you can swap the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter).
And, if you’re looking to get your hands on more healthy and simple recipes like these gluten-free thumbprint cookies, make sure you grab your free copy of our 5 Ingredient Cookbook. Compiled with 20 delicious and simple recipes that make healthy eating fun. You can grab your cookbook here:
Chai Spiced Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies With Apricot Jam
Ingredients
- 1 cup nut flour 1.5 cups chopped and blended/ processed into flour; or pecans or buy ground nuts if you don’t have a food processor
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 Tbsp sunflower seed butter
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1 Tbsp ground chia + 3 Tbsp water
- sea salt
- 1/4 cup Crofter's Organic jam
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Take the nuts and add them to a high-speed food processor or blender and blend until they turn into a flour.
- Add everything else (except for the jam) to the food processor.
- Process for about 1 minute, until a large ball of dough forms.
- Take a large cookie sheet and line with parchment paper.
- Remove 1 Tbsp dough at a time and place on the sheet into a ball.
- Take your thumb and press in the center to form a crater in the cookie. You may need to shape the cookies out so the edges don’t crumble.
- Place approximately 1 tsp of jam in the center of the cookies. You can add as much or as little as you would like, we prefer quite a bit of jam to cookie ratio.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, until outside of cookies are golden.
Recipe Notes
If you don’t have a food processor you can use nut flour and mix all of the ingredients in a bowl (except for the jam). If your dough is too crumbly, add more nut butter (1 Tbsp at a time), and if your dough is too wet, add more nut flour (1 Tbsp at a time). The dough should be easy to roll and manipulate without falling apart or being too loose.
Disclaimer: This recipe was developed in a paid partnership with Crofter’s Organics. All partnerships we promote align with our core nutrition values and teachings. And, all opinions in this post are genuine. You can find more about our NN Approved Healthy Brands here.
A great healthy dessert recipe!
A great healthy recipe for the whole family 🙂
These look incredibly delicious and I love how healthy the recipe is! I’ll definitely be giving them a try in the near future!
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