Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies
Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies with pretty, naturally dyed, pastel icing. Perfect for Easter or anytime you want to get festive.
Servings: 36 cookies
Calories: 116kcal
Ingredients
Cookie Base
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup finely diced raw pecans I pulsed whole pecans in my food processor several times
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup creamy raw almond butter
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
Pink Icing
- ½ cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon raspberry juice
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened, plain non-dairy milk
Green Icing
- ½ cup organic powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon kale juice
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened, plain non-dairy milk
Yellow Icing
- ½ cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons peach purée
- ¼ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric optional
Instructions
For the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, finely diced pecans, salt and baking powder and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the almond butter and maple syrup until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir thoroughly to combine.
- Taking about 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, press it into a ball shape (rolling it might cause it to fall apart) and place on the baking sheet. Using two fingers, gently press down on the dough to flatten it out a bit. Then with your thumb or the back of a ¼ teaspoon measuring spoon (its the perfect size), press down in the center to make a small indentation. Repeat with all the remaining dough.
- Bake 6 to 8 minutes, until they edges start to turn brown. They will still be delicate when they come out, but they will continue to firm up as they cool. If the indentations rose up a bit, you can gently press them back down with your thumb or the measuring spoon (I recommend the measuring spoon at this point since the cookies will be hot and I don't want you to burn your thumb!)
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling completely.
- Once cool, fill the indentations with the icing of your choice.
Pink Icing
- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add more non-dairy milk if you want it thinner, add more powdered sugar if you want it thicker.
- Tip: For the raspberry juice, I defrosted about ½ cup of frozen raspberries. Once thawed, I placed them in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and with the back of a wooden spoon pressed the raspberries down in the strainer so the juice seeped through.
Green Icing
- Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth. Start w/ ¼ teaspoon of kale juice (you can start with even less if you are worried about the flavor...and add more if you want it darker.
- Add more non-dairy milk if you want it thinner, add more powdered sugar if you want it thicker.
- Tip: I juiced 3-4 leaves of kale in a juicer. Store bought green juice should work as well.
Yellow Icing
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. The turmeric is optional, but leaving it out will create a light peach color as opposed to light yellow.
- Add more non-dairy milk if you want it thinner, add more powdered sugar if you want it thicker.
- Tip: I defrosted some frozen peaches and pureed them in my blender.
Notes
~ Each batch of icing should be enough for 1 dozen cookies.
~ The icing is not overly sweet and you can taste a bit of the kale/raspberry/peach/turmeric. Those flavors mellow out on day 2 once the icing is completely dry. The berry flavor remains the most pronounced. Personally, I don't like super sweet icing, so I really liked the slight undertone of earthiness from the kale and turmeric. If you are concerned about this - start with as little of the juice/powder as possible and only add if you want more vibrant color. Or you could certainly buy naturally dyed food coloring if you wish.
~ If you double this recipe, do not simply double the icing ingredients. You'll have way too much liquid. You'll only need a tiny bit more of liquid for another ½ cup of powdered sugar. So start by adding just another tablespoon and work up from there if necessary.
~Nutrition facts are per cookie.
Nutrition
Calories: 116kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 26mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.5mg