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!
I love thumbprint cookies and have such a restricted diet these days never dreamed I could make these! I am terribly allergic to flax….can the recipe stand on it’s own without the flax? Would chia seeds be a good substitute?
Thanks for any input!
Hi Joan, Im sorry Im not sure! It might be worth a shot though :)
How necessary is the coconut/chopped nuts for rolling? I just made fabulous thumbprint cookies from Manifest Vegan, and I want to make them more often, except the recipe calls for 1c of butter (earth balance, etc) and a lot of sugar. I prefer baking sugar-free and without so much oil/butter whenever possible, and so your recipe intrigues me. However, I’m trying to recreate the type of cookies my mother used to make– and she didn’t have any “crunch.” I am sure you can understand my desire to have something traditional, despite my vegan and gluten-free status?
So glad I found these! I head home on leave this week for the holidays and my mom and I have always made thumb print cookies on Christmas Eve. With our being diagnosed with celiacs I was worried about our tradition.
I made these exactly per the recipe (except I used a 4-berry jam) and they were absolutely delicious! I love the way that Almond Meal makes food taste buttery when its not. These cookies are chewy and light and just sweet enough. Definitely a new guilt-free holiday tradition in our house. Thank you Angela!
These were awesome! My kids loved making them and we ate them all in one sitting. Must try!
I made these cookies but substituted raw cashews for raw almonds (mostly because I wrote down the wrong nut on my grocery list) and they were some of the best cookies I’ve ever made!! I bake A LOT, and both of my friends that tried them agreed. AWESOME recipe!!
These are delicious! I just made some and am now wishing I had hidden them from the kids ;) I left out the coconut because hubby is not a fan. I will be making these again very soon. Next time, double batch!
Hi! First let me say that I have tried these cookies and I love them, as do my family members!
Anyway, so here I am happily eating these cookies…1..2..3..4..5…then the next day..1…2, and, I wonder, just how many calories are in these little things? So I plugged them into myfitnesspal, and I was so shocked to see that each of these little cookies is around 120 calories! I gues Im just wondering how the heck is this possible and, ugh I don’t know, hwo to hand my gilt lol?
Again, I do love them, but Im afraid I will have to wait until I am at a better place with my weight.
My batch had too much liquid in it, but still came out delicious – as a sort of pastry “bark” and my fiance still enjoyed my “mistake”!
I made these today and they were amazing! I made half rolled in coconut and half rolled in finely chopped almonds and both are delicious. I also subbed the almond butter for some natural peanut butter with a little bit of oil, and I didn’t have maple syrup so I subbed agave. They are so good!
These look divine! Thumbprint cookies were always my favorite cookies… However, the dough wasn’t healthy or rolled in any goodies, nor was there jam (they were filled with buttercream frosting). However, my unhealthy, non-vegan days are long gone! I’m not a huge fan of jam, so perhaps I’ll fill them with a fresh fruit compote or some frosting or ganache. PS: Thank you for all your recipes, they’re very inspiring and tasty! This site makes being vegan incredibly easy and fun. :)
These are sooo good! I made them today, for Easter, and they were a big hit. I actually used almond butter that wasn’t drippy (tierrafarm.com/unsaltedalmondbutter) — I highly, higly recommend their nut butters) and didn’t need to add any extra oil. I also skipped the coconut, since one of the people I was baking for is a coconut hater (I know…). I’ll definitely be making these again. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
These were delicious and so pretty, too! I had a key lime-raspberry jam and it was a perfect compliment to the almond nuttiness. I remember seeing a question or two about whether you could use almond flour instead of almond meal and the answer is yes – I used almond flour and they held together beautifully and had a great texture. I used a combination of ground almonds and coconut to roll them in. Soooo good!
These are cooling on my counter. They’re beautiful and delicious. I was concerned that they wouldn’t firm up, but they did- just enough! LOVE!
These cookies got rave reviews from my guests and I couldn’t agree more. Angela’s recipes are soooo terrific. Thank you, Angela. Now have you cracked the code yet and discovered a way to make dacquoise with no egg whites?
This are both beautiful and delicious. Pretty for Christmas, but also lovely in spring, as they look like a delicate flower! Love these.
These are wonderful cookies! Is there a preferred method for storing them? I made them today and want to take them to share on Friday. Will they be ok in the fridge or perhaps I should freeze them? Any thoughts are appreciated…love these cookies!
These cookies are amazing! I’ve made them for vegans and non-vegans and all have loved them. They are a bit labor-intensive, as far as the rolling and making the “thumbprint,” but so totally worth it. By the way, I did use almond flour instead of almond meal and it worked just fine. I’ve also not rolled them in anything and they were still great. This recipe is a WINNER!
These cookies are AMAZING! Thank you sooo much for sharing the recipe.?
So glad you enjoyed them!
These came out perfect! The texture and flavor and wonderful and remind me of my mom’s but far healthier. I tried another vegan/GF Thumbprint Cookie recipe last year and was very disappointed. I should’ve known….. always trust Angela first! :-)