I was so excited when I found this bag of organic jelly beans free of artificial colors and gelatin at the grocery store (Fortinos, for those of you in Ontario).
The ingredients list appeared to be vegan (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Grape Juice Concentrate, Pectin, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Colors Added (including Black Carrot Juice Concentrate, Turmeric, Annatto), Natural Flavors, Confectioner’s Glaze, Carnauba Wax, Organic Sunflower Oil), but after I did a little research on the company’s website I discovered the jelly beans are vegetarian but not vegan (they didn’t say why so I emailed them to inquire). It turns out confectioner’s glaze is the culprit. It’s a clear coating used for candy (and other non-edible products under the name “shellac”) and is derived from secretions of the female lac bug. After a quick Google search I came across Vegan Sweets jelly beans. If anyone knows of any other vegan jelly bean brands out there, feel free to give them a shout-out below!
Anyway, I discovered this little recipe snafu, of course, after making my lovely Easter macaroon nests. All the pictures were shot and edited and the post was written up ready to be published. Rather than giving you a recipe that wasn’t 100% vegan, I decided to go back to the drawing board and create something new. Thankfully, the answer came to me quickly – macaroon thumbprints. Since the “nests” already looked like the beginnings of a thumbprint cookie all I had to do was fill the well with jam. It just so happened that I had a fresh batch of chia seed jam waiting in the fridge. Last week, I made a batch using a bag of frozen raspberries. It worked like a charm!
Love, love, love!
Macaroon thumbprints with raspberry chia jam, it is. You know what, I think I like these even better than the original recipe. Much more my style, anyway.
The macaroon dough comes together so quickly. Then you simply shape the dough into nests (I just typed breasts – those work too!), fill with jam, and bake at a low temperature – 275F seemed to work nicely for me. Baking at a high heat can brown these babies long before they are cooked through so it’s best to take a slow and steady approach with the heat. I’m sure they would also work beautifully in the dehydrator if you have one.
Oh and one last thing I should mention. I used unsweetened flaked coconut as opposed to unsweetened shredded coconut (which I normally use in my recipes). I used the longer flakes because I thought it would yield a more rustic looking cookie, but if you only have the shredded stuff on hand that will work fine too.
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Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints with Raspberry Chia Seed Jam
Yield
10 Macaroons
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the Macaroons
- 1.5 cups unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup almond flour (or almond meal)
- scant 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, softened (no subs- this binds the cookies together)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
For the Chia Seed Jam (makes about 1 cup)
- 3 cups frozen raspberries
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, or to taste
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
- For the chia seed jam: Add frozen raspberries and maple syrup into a medium pot and bring to a simmer. After 5 minutes or so, stir in the chia seeds. Continue to cook down the mixture for about 15 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Chill in the fridge for a couple hours to thicken it up even more.
- Preheat oven to 275°F and line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. If you have a non-stick mat, use it because it will help prevent browning on the bottom.
- In a large bowl, combine the coconut, almond flour (or meal), and salt.
- Melt the coconut butter over a very low heat. I suggest using a double boiler so it doesn’t burn.
- Add the maple syrup, softened coconut butter, and vanilla into the dry mixture and stir very well until combined. The dough will be very wet and sticky, but this is normal.
- Grab a couple tablespoons of dough at a time with your hands and drop it onto the baking sheet. With a wet finger, press a well into the middle and lightly shape the outsides if necessary. Repeat for the rest. Fill each well with jam. The macaroons don’t spread out so there’s no need to space them far apart.
- Bake at 275°F for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 10-20 minutes (I baked for 40 mins. total – but you may need less depending on your oven) until the bottoms are lightly golden and browned, but not burned. If you have a hot oven, I suggest watching it closely or even reducing the heat to 250F. Place pan on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes and then transfer each macaroon onto the cooling rack until completely cool. The macaroons will be very soft at first, but will firm as they cool. I enjoy them the most chilled, straight from the fridge.
Tip:
You can probably swap the maple syrup for another liquid sweetener of your choice. Also, if you can’t have almonds, you might be able to swap the almond flour for oat flour. I haven’t tried this yet myself though so be sure to report back if you try it out.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
For no-bake chocolate macaroons, be sure to see this post.
I hope you have a great start to your (hopefully short) work week!
Love everything in this recipe, especially coconut!
Raspberry jam is my favorite! These look absolutely delicious and very easy to make, thanks for another fantastic recipe!
Would these work at all being made smaller? They look like huge cookies since the recipe only makes 10, so I’d like to try making them a bit smaller (ie 12-15 cookies instead of 10), but I’m worried they won’t hold together.
I can’t see why that wouldn’t work. Good luck :)
I make jelly bean nests with the grandkids every Easter and love your recipe Thanks for a recipe using maple syrup. We live in Vermont and it’s my sweetener of choice!
This looks so yummy! I’ve been waiting for so long for you to come up with a jammrecipe that doesn’t require tons of sugar in it! Since I came across your Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares. I’ll definitely try the jam recipe soon.
Chia seeds are the best! I love these cookies! I want to make them now!
Instead of coconut butter, can I use coconut oil?
I have been wondering that myself, but I didn’t get around to trying it out yet. I’m really not sure to be honest – I would like to think they might, but it’s really anyone’s guess when it comes to baking. Please let me know if you do try it.
i’m a new reader to your beautiful blog and i just have to say, i love it! the little details you provide with the recipes are great and this is one that i’m definitely going to make! i’m a coconut-aholic. :)
Thank you Marissa, I so appreciate that! enjoy
This looks great, Angela! I also love raspberry jam. When I saw the recipe I decided to try it at once. I’m still licking my lips. :)
Hi Angela, I’d never even heard of coconut butter before today but I just made some – amazing! I didn’t think it was going to work but eight minutes (and a lot of scraping down the sides of my blender) later I am the proud maker of home made coconut butter! About to make these lovely looking macaroons. Thanks.
Hey Emily, I’m so happy it worked out for you :) Sometimes it can be finicky.
We sell those jellybeans at my work, and we’ve had quite a few complaints about the shellac ingredient. Really, why remove the gelatin if you’re going to use shellac anyway? Silly confectionary company!
That being said, I don’t think these yummy macaroon thumbprints needed the lolly sweetness anyway – they look fabulous, and with the coconut and jam filling I bet they are sweet enough :D Happy Easter!
These look amazing!
Also, I appreciate you presenting a new recipe that’s 100% vegan without using phrases like “I suck” or “I failed” – I’ve found that a lot of vegans think somehow they’ve screwed everything up when they find out a purchase they made wasn’t vegan. I don’t think this is failure (or anything negative) at all! It’s good to be aware, switch ingredients, and move on, assured in your new knowledge, rather than judging yourself! Thanks for providing a good example of this!
This looks totally delicious and the preparation is really exquisite. It is the perfect treat that can be prepared in parties. I love your idea and I really like to try the raspberry flavor on the macaroons.
Love your recipe for the chia jam! I’ve made a cookie like this before and just stirred chia seeds into store-bought jam. I love how chia can bump up the nutrition and make a sweet healthier.
Chia jam recipes keep popping everywhere, I really need to try it!
Your nests looked so cute!
Beautiful! And now I am craving macaroons!
You have totally busted my bubble about Jelly Beans…I’m stuned.
Oh my, these are beautiful I’m enjoying the rustic look :) the chia seed jam sounds so yummy!
These look so bright and delicious! My fiance loves jelly beans and I immediately thought of him when I saw the ones above. I have been wanting to make a berry filling for a berry bar, similar to the ones at Whole Foods, the raspberry jam gives me some ideas…thanks for sharing all your beautiful work
Those thumbprints look great!