Thumbprint Cookies

The beauty of these cookies is in addition to being delicious and actually healthy, you can be creative with what you’re putting in the center.

Chef’s Notes:
Fill the middle with jam or dark chocolate squares, or almond butter mixed with vanilla and maple
You can blend your own almonds and oats or purchase almond “meal” and oat flour. You can use other nuts instead of almonds if you prefer.
This recipe is adapted from The Natural Foods Cookbook, by Mary Estella. I have made these hundreds of times over the years and the pages are literally falling out.

makes 16-18 cookies.

Ingredients
1 Cup almonds, ground into coarse meal, or you can purchase almond “meal”
1 Cup rolled oats, ground into flour, or you can purchase oat flour
1 Cup spelt flour or gluten free flour of choice
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ Cup melted coconut oil or ghee
½ Cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 Cup unsweetened strawberry or blueberry jam, or 2 six ounce dark chocolate bars broken into 1-inch squares per cookie                                        (enough for 16-18 cookies.)

Method
1. Grind almonds and oats into coarse flour.
2. In a large bowl, combine all flours along with cinnamon and salt
3. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, maple and vanilla until mixed
4. Make a well in dry ingredients; add wet ingredients. Mix well and let sit for 10 minutes so flour absorbs the liquids.
5. Roll into walnut-size balls and place on an oiled sheet, flatten with the palm of your hand, press with thumb and fill with jam or chocolate      square.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.