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!
Angela,
These cookies look amazing! I have a nut sensitivity though. Coconut is fine, but do you have any thoughts on what might work as a sub for the almonds? Oat flour?
Thanks!
Michelle
Yes that should work!
They look great! Any idea if i could use the same amount of desiccated coconut instead of shredded? (unfortunately they don’t sell shredded variety here. and turns out the packages i bought from a health food store on a trip to Canada all contain sulphite! oh well, i should have checked the label first)
Secretions from a bug on my jellybeans; that’s so gross. Thank you for sharing the info. The cookies look delcious!
Confectioner’s glaze? I would have never thought that would be a non-vegan ingredient. I always knew to look out for gelatin but glaze?
Same here – it was the first time I think I have ever come across it on a label…probably because I haven’t bought candy in a few years. hah
I just got my first “Silpat” baking sheet. I can’t wait to use it!! Sounds like these macaroons would be perfect for it :)
I love this perfect recipe and for EASTER too. I like what you did with the chia seeds too! These are so adorable and I coul deat them all I think. :)
For once I have almost all the ingredients on hand! I had forgotten about your chia seed jam recipe but I have wanted to make it for so long! Thanks for the reminder! This is a great way to put my massive bag of flaked coconut to use!
oh holy yums. I love the idea of adding chia to raspberries for a fresh jam!
I’d like to opt out of the maple syrup, and use stevia instead. Is this going to pose an issue with the consistency of the dough, and if so, is there a fruit or non-sugar alternative ingredient that I can add? Thanks!
Hey Kristina, I’m sorry but I’m not sure. It’s so hard to tell with baking as changes can alter the recipe a lot. Let us know if you try something and how it goes.
Hey there! So I finally got to test out the recipe. I substituted about the equivalent amount of fresh coconut water for the maple syrup (I’m an eye-baller) in the dough, added enough stevia drops to taste (~40), and baked the cookies for about 30 minutes. They came out nicely browned on the bottom, and just a touch of gold on top, with a nice chewiness in the middle.
I was worried they’d be too dry, but no such thing! Next time though, I’d add more coconut manna. I doubled the recipe to get 20 cookies, so instead of 1/2 cup, I might use a little under 3/4 cup of butter to make the dough a little stickier. Also, I used fresh coconut water in the jam instead of syrup with a dash of canned coconut milk, and that came out nicely as well. I think about 15 drops of stevia for a double recipe.
Thank you!
You are so good with that stuff – what an improvisor! I have steered clear of jelly beans (though I miss the chewy sugar rush!) – will need to read comments to see if there are any good ones. My son watched videos on what is in things like gum, twizzlers etc – SCARY!
I’m speechless, and that never happens. Absolutely beautiful.
How cute! And these are so perfect for the upcoming holiday – Easter! :)
making those this week, I will blog about it and sure give you all the credit ;) thanks for this awesome idea
Why.why,do companies go through the loops of making’good junk food if they are going to cover it in bug secretions!!!(how do they get that and who thought of that anyhow)I to live on that slippery slope of nostalgia??and impulse buy something only to have buyers remorse.sigh.It can be hard with kids.Your right this recipe is more your style:)Me and the little ones will tackle this!!!Thanks.
The “good” should have quotations!:)
Thumbprint cookies are my absolute favorite cookie! I’ve tried all your recipes for them and this one seems even more delicious! Thanks for the inspiration and recipe Angela :)
Hi Angela,
How long would you figure chia jam lasts in the fridge? It seems like there isn’t enough sugar to preserve it.
Ive had it last at least two weeks, possibly longer.
I made these twice following ur directions, and both times they over browned on me. I am thinking I will have to cut the bake time in half to get them to look like urs.I have to say I loved them anyway!!!
Hi Angela. The cookies look exceptionally yummy. I’m almost afraid to try them though. I eat chia seeds almost every day. Mostly I put them in my cereal in the mornings, with no problem. However, of late, I’ve been trying to incorporate more in my food as they are so good for you. A few weeks ago I made your chocolate chia pudding and then I put some in some smoothies I made and I had a really adverse reaction. I was concerned I was allergic because of the major severe stomach pains I had. It felt like I had crammed a weeks worth of food in my stomach and I thought I was literally dying. The pain was so unbearable. When the same reaction occurred after the smoothies, I was concerned about being allergic. I researched but didn’t have any other symptoms that would indicate an allergy. Wondering if you had any type of reaction to eating Chia? I do know they have a 25% fiber content, so I am thinking it might have been simply too much bulk at one time. The pains lasted for several hours and even though I felt hungry a while later, I had no desire to eat. I love eating chia, but very concerned about incorporating more than a few teaspoons at a time in my food.
This looks absolutely DIVINE and so spring-like! Can’t wait to try them out!