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!
“…secretions of the female lac bug…” !!!! How on earth do people ever work out that such a thing could be utilised – for anything!!!! So weird.
I’m not crazy about the coconut, but he chia jam looks yummy. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
I just made these and they are incredible! I ran out of vanilla extract in the middle of pouring so I had to mix in about 1/2 tsp of almond extract…..holy smoking delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!
Everyone is talking about the beans and jam,
has anyone made the cookies ? Mine came out not to good they stock to the wax paper help .
Just spent my Saturday night, drinking wine and making macaroons. Absolutely delicious!
They definitely satisfied my sweet tooth
xo
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter? I would hate to buy the butter when I could just use the oil that I already have. Suggestions?
Nope, they don’t turn out with coconut oil :( You can make your own coconut butter at home very easily (search my blog for the post!)
Looks awesome!
Ever tried the jam with strawberries?
Yes I have – it’s so good! The strawberries don’t break down like the other berries though so I had to give them a quick process in my processor to smooth it out.
I made these last night and they were SOOOO good!!! I didn’t have any maple syrup so I subbed date paste and I think it worked pretty well.
I love these cookies! Made them slightly different though. I did chocolate chips mixed in and whole wheat flour instead of almond meal. It seems like my version would do well as a bar.
Angela! These are amazing, I have made them twice already! Thank you! Do I have your permission to share this recipe on a friend’s blog as long as we give credit and link them to your blog?
Hey Kristen! So glad you enjoyed them – thanks for letting me know!
I prefer my recipes are not reposted, but feel free to link to the original post. Unless of course you’ve made changes to the recipe then by all means feel free to post your adaptation.
Ok great! Thanks Angela!
Ooooh Surf Sweet Jelly beans are my favourite candy. I am not vegan nor vegetarian but cannot have pork and it’s not easy to find gelatin free candy. When they are not packed with flavourings and colorants, it’s even better! I get mine from Nature’s Emporium in Newmarket.
And thank you for the recipe. Can’t wait to try this one!
Tried those last weekend and they were a hit with everyone!!
Def. one to keep!
(Used the little bit of jam left on oatmeal the following morning. Yummy)
Thanks Angela
These look delightful! What is the serving size?
I just made thesentoday, but subbed frozen blueberries for the raspberries & it worked out great! Such a great treat. Thanks for sharing! :)
These are perfect. My partner’s sis is GF so it’s always super hard to cook for her.
I used olive oil butter instead of coconut
These look great! I am going to try these soon!
Hi Angela, I am from Czech republic and i am a big fun of your blog and of your recipes..You are a big inspiration..thank you
Angela, i would like to ask – (because i just made the chia seed jam – how long it can last? i mean, can i store it for few months as a normal jam??)
And my second question – i really love your pictures (and i also love taking pictures myself and lately i try to take pictures of the food also) – what lens (do you normally use for shooting the food?)
thank you
Hey Martina, The chia seed jam should last in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Although we tend to eat it all before then!
My camera info is on my FAQ page: http://ohsheglows.com/faqs/#blogfaq hope this helps!
I recently made Raspberry Chia jam.. it was delicious but I didn’t even think of adding vanilla… WTH is wrong with me? I put a dollop into my vanilla coconut milk yogurt and BOOM… Heaven!!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I needed an easy recipe for a “healthy” bake sale we had at work and I got so many compliments on them. I devoured one before donating them and it was so hard not to eat another. They are so tasty and I love that they are not greasy. I had left over jam and spread that on a rice cake with almond butter as a snack – wow, that jam is good :) Thanks!
Best homemade macaroon experience I’ve had Yet! I just decided to make these today. Had no idea what coconut butter was… I figured it out, just blended my shredded coconut. I love how they seemed fancy but they were so simple! Simple is one of my favorite food groups, so Thank You!! Absolutely scrumptious!