Almond Flour Cardamom Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies

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Almond Flour Cardamom Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies are flavorful, light, and delicious. They’re also gluten, and dairy-free.

Peanut Butter and Jelly are a quintessential pair. While I didn’t grow up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I’ve had a fair amount in the years since moving to the States. And now as I’ve come to discover, my children could live on them. Though I try to ensure they get some variety in their diet.

With the classic pairing in mind, I wanted to create a little spinoff in the form of a treat, that children and adults can enjoy. And of course, doing so without any gluten or dairy. So born were these peanut butter thumbprint cookies with strawberry preserves.

I have to be honest, my recent fondness for making cookies stems from discovering soy-free, cashew-based butter, which is spectacular and pretty much available in any grocery store. It completely changed baking for me. While I’m a fan of coconut oil and use it quite frequently in baking, it’s really using dairy-free butter that makes a big difference and gives the cookies the moist and chewy texture you’d expect. So let’s get to making these delicious and flavorful cookies.

Ingredients for Almond Flour Cardamom Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies

• Almond flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Coconut sugar
• Peanut Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla
• Cardamom
• Vegan Butter
• Fruit preserves or jam

The Type of Almond Flour Makes A Difference

When it comes to making cookies with almond flour, seek out the best quality you can find and make sure it’s the finest ground. Almond meal will not work in these cookies as it’s much too coarse and won’t bind as well. My top two favorite almond flour brands are this one and this one.

The bottom line is, no matter which almond flour you go with, make sure the words, fine or even better superfine are listed on the package. This way you’ll know you have the best possible flour to work with.

Vegan Butter

For the longest time, I avoided using vegan butter because I didn’t love all the ingredients it took to substitute the real thing. But recently I’ve discovered unsalted butter made from cashews with minimal processing and using good, clean ingredients. Needless to say, this was a bit of a game-changer.

Peanut Butter

Much of the flavor in these cookies comes from the peanut butter. If possible, look for the stir kind that’s minimally processed that contains just salt and peanuts as ingredients. If you’re choosing to go with the unsalted kind, make sure you add a pinch of salt to balance out the flavors.

Cardamom

You wouldn’t think that 1/8th of a tsp of cardamom makes a big difference in baking but it truly does. Cardamom adds unmistakable flavor to the peanut butter cookies, giving them a distinct aroma and taste.

Making Almond Flour Cardamom Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet tray with parchment paper.

Step 2. Mix egg, butter, vanilla, and peanut butter until you get a smooth paste.

Step 3. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, almond flour, salt and cardamom and add dry ingredients to wet.

Step 4. Mix dough with a spatula and by hand until you have a solid piece. Roll into 20-24 balls and place each ball on the parchment paper-lined tray.

Step 5. Press your thumb gently into the center of the ball and press down. Bake cookies for 9 minutes on the top rack.

Step 6. Once cookies have finished baking, gently scoop about 1/2 tsp of jam into the hole and let the cookies cool completely.

*Store cookies in an airtight container for several days.

Tips & Substitutions

Almond Flour vs. Coconut Flour

I’m a huge fan of coconut flour and use it religiously, but when it comes to cookies, I’ve come to realize that almond flour is a much better performer so I would encourage you to not substitute coconut flour as you will get a very different texture in your cookie.

Coconut Oil Instead Of Vegan Butter

You can most certainly replace the two tablespoons of vegan butter for coconut oil. But I do find that the texture of the cookie will be slightly different.

Fruit Preserves of Jam

The kind of jam or preserves you use is entirely up to you. I like strawberry as it works really nicely with the peanut butter but you can choose whichever jam or preserves you like best.

Vegan Option

If you wanted to make the cookies vegan, replace the egg with a flax egg. All you need is 1.5 tbsp water and 1 tbsp flax. Mix them together and let sit for 10 minutes until congealed.

Paleo Option

If you want to make these paleo, simply swap out the peanut butter for almond butter, cashew butter or sun butter. While I haven’t tried these, they’re a great option if you’re paleo.

More Sweet Recipes You May Enjoy

• Flourless Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Easy 3 Ingredient Chocolate Bark
• No-Bake Almond Butter Bars with Salted Chocolate
• Paleo Cardamom Carrot Muffins