I’ve loved thumbprints ever since I was a kid. Any recipe that tells me to jam my thumb into cookie dough and fill it with actual jam is a winner in my books. Did you ever eat those packaged cookies with the cream and gooey strawberry filling? Not technically a thumbprint cookie I guess, but they sure did taste amazing. I don’t even want to know how many sleeves of those cookies I ate growing up. I’m sure you’d still see a few clinging to my artery walls!
Today, I have a vegan and gluten-free version to add to my growing thumbprint recipe collection. This time, I set my heart on making a thumbprint with a lovely raspberry almond flavour using almonds, almond butter, almond extract, and raspberry jam as the feature ingredients. They turned out fantastic – lightly sweet, with a buttery almond flavour and pop of sweet raspberry goodness. If you are a fan of peanut butter and jam, you will love this “grown-up” version.
Served with a side of Gossip Girl on Monday night, it was the perfect balance of wholesome…and not so wholesome. Eric claims he isn’t a fan of both thumbprints and Gossip Girl, but I found him devouring both. Never trust a person who says they don’t like thumbprint cookies!
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Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies (Gluten-Free and Vegan)
Yield
18 cookies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups raw almonds, processed into almond meal (about 1.5 cups almond meal)
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 2 tbsp ground flax
- 1/4 tsp + 1/8th tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 cup raw almond butter (see note)
- 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 5-6 tbsp raspberry jam
- approx 1/3 cup shredded coconut, for rolling
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a large baking sheet with oil, use a silpat mat, or line with parchment paper.
- If making almond meal, place raw almonds into a high-speed blender. Process on high speed until a fine crumb, making sure not to process too long or the oils will release. Alternatively, you can use store bought almond meal.
- In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (almond meal, rice flour, ground flax, salt, and baking powder). Use your fingers to break up any clumps of the almond meal. In a smaller bowl, mix together the almond butter, maple syrup, and almond extract. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until combined.
- Shape dough into balls (about 1.5 tbsp or so). If dough is too sticky, place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
- Roll balls in coconut. Place balls of dough about 1.5-2 inches apart on the baking sheet. With your thumb, press into the middle of the ball and shape a small well with your fingers. Add 1 tsp of jam into each well.
- Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, watching closely after 9 minutes. I baked mine for 11.5 minutes. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Channel your inner grandma and enjoy with hot tea!
Tip:
If making these completely gluten-free be sure to check all your ingredients to ensure they are certified gluten-free. The almond butter I used is very "drippy" so I don’t suggest using a firm nut butter here. If you do, you may have to add some oil to the mixture. You can also roll the balls in chopped nuts instead of coconut.
If you find yourself with some delicious in-season raspberries (or other berries!), you can try making your own raspberry puree or jam for the middle. I would probably just smash some with a fork and add a bit of sweetener to taste!
These look delish! Just wondering if you have any recommendations for a substitute for the rice flour? I have issues with it-would arrowroot work?
Hi Sabrina, I haven’t tried it myself, but I know readers have tried coconut flour, buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, and white whole wheat flour, and most had success with those swaps. One person reported the whole wheat flour changed the texture a bit, and made the cookies sort of dense. I’d suggest reading back through some of the comments to get a better idea of what may work best for you! :) If you try anything, I hope you’ll let us know how it goes!
Anyone wondering about subbing in all-purpose flour for the rice flour – I tried it so I didn’t need to go to the store and thought it worked fine!
Made these today for a cookie swap and they are incredibly delicious! I tripled them so I would have over 3 dozen for the cookie swap, and they were still manageable to make in one big bowl.
Thanks so much for sharing, Kelly! That’s great to know. :)
Hi Angela! I made this recipe following the instructions in your second cookbook! I loved putting everything in the food processor. It was incredibly easy! I didn’t use brown rice flour (I didn’t have it) so I used buckwheat flour and it worked out perfectly! Super light, chewy, yet a little crisp on the exterior. Thank you!!
really great the next day
Delish! My daughter just made them and they are sooooo yummy! Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Chris, So glad you enjoyed them! They are one of my favourite cookies :)
I tried to make these and failed miserably! They are just a crumbling mess! I followed the recipe perfectly! Although now that I scrolled down into comments, I realized I used almond flour instead of almond meal. Must be the problem!
Aw yes sometimes swapping almond flour for almond meal (and vice versa) can produce a very different outcome…so sorry to hear this! I’d love to hear how they go if you try them again using almond meal. they are such a fave in this house!!
These look delicious, but there’s appears to be an error in the recipe – there’s no way 1 1/3 cups of almonds will result in 1 1/2 cups of almond meal (more like 1 cup). What’s the correct measurement? Almonds are expensive so I don’t want to experiment to find out. =)
Hey Katy, when almonds are processed into a meal it actually produces a bit more volume. 1 cup whole almonds makes 1 1/3 cups almond meal, so 1 1/3 cups whole almonds will make around (or just less than) 1 1/2 cups meal. Hope this helps!
Didn’t have coconut so didn’t roll them. Used peanut butter instead of almond butter as it’s what I had. Delicious! Oh, also used cherry preserves.. not some of the jam turned kinda gray in the oven, so it’s not super-great to look at, but wow does it taste good!
Great recipe base! I adapted it a bit. I added 3/4 c gluten free flour in lieu of brown rice flour. Seemed to need quite a bit more than 1/4 C. I also used vegan butter instead of almond butter. 14 minutes in the oven instead of 10 min. They turned out great!
These cookies are life changing for me.
Not only are they tasty, but they are super healthy as they keep me regular ( been struggling with gut issues all my life). I have one a day. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe !!!
These cookies are very good. Appreciate the addition of almond butter. I used 1/4 cup oat flour. Didn’t have any brown rice flour. Also used maple syrup and liquid monk fruit then rolled in chopped walnuts. Turned out great! My mother-in-law used to make these a lot for the family. We loved them back then; but enjoy this healthier version nowadays. Thanks so much!!!!!
Have been looking at this recipe for years…finally tried them with a few exceptions of what I had on hand. I used almond flour and oat flour (in place of rice). And some of my freezer cherry chia jam. They turned out amazing! I guess when it comes to alternative flours you never know if it’ll work out or not…but it did this time :) I tried it side by side with another recipe and this one is the winner. I did not really experience thumbprint cookies growing up. We usually stuck to chocolate chip, but I’m glad to add it to my rotation, and looking forward to making them for my next get together!