Hannah Kaminsky

Almond Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

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Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Yields Approximately

    32

    cookies

Appears in

Vegan Desserts

Vegan Desserts

By Hannah Kaminsky

Published 2015

One cookie that I remember being a favorite on many holiday cookie platters was something called a “peanut butter blossom.” Little more than a peanut butter cookie with a chocolate drop stuck in the center, it appealed to youngsters and those of mature palates alike. When baking for a celiac friend, however, I was at a bit of a loss—how to keep the integrity of this treat while still making it without gluten, and perhaps with a bit of renewed interest? The result was a cookie simply oozing with almond flavor that seems to melt in your mouth, along with the crunchy chocolate topper. If you can’t get nonpareils, you can easily make your own (recipe), but if those sprinkle-covered confections just don’t appeal, you could make these like thumbprint cookies and fill the indents with chocolate ganache instead.

Ingredients

  • ½ Cup Non-Dairy Margarine
  • ⅔ Cup Smooth Almond Butter
  • ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
  • ½ Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Packed
  • 1 Cup Almond Meal
  • 1 Cup Garbanzo or Defatted Soy Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ½ Teaspoon Salt
  • ¼ Teaspoon Almond Extract
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method

Enough Vegan Nonpareils to add one per cookie (approximately 32).

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Toss the margarine and both sugars into your stand mixer, and cream thoroughly. Be sure to scrape down the sides before adding in the almond butter, and mix again to combine. Once the mixture is smooth and homogeneous, add in the almond meal, soy flour, baking soda, and salt all together and slowly mix it in. Finally, incorporate the vanilla.

Use your hands to shape the dough into balls the size of walnuts (about 1 inch in diameter) and place them each about an inch or so apart on the prepared baking sheets. Move the dough balls into the oven and bake for just 8 minutes before removing them and gently pressing a nonpareil into the center of each. Bake again for just 2 more minutes, and let the cookies cool on the sheets.

© 2015 All rights reserved. Published by Skyhorse.