Vegan & Gluten Free Almond Thumbprint Cookies

These are so ridiculously good, morish and dangerously delicious. I happen to think you'll struggle to restrain yourself at just one lil' thumbprint cookie as the soft lemony, sweet-almondy shortbread topped with a little wading pool of jam really is a delightful combination. I think these would make a jolly good Christmas gift, or just a lovely homemade gift for any time of year really, as while they might look deceivingly ordinary, they really are out-of-this-world in taste. Plus, they happen to be ever so therapeutic to whip up and press your thumbs into.

Ingredients

1 cup ground almonds (almond meal)
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
zest of 1 lemon (finely chopped if not using a microplane)
2 tbsp soft/melted coconut oil
2 tbsp nut butter (almond, or a blend with almond in it works best)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla essence/1 tsp vanilla paste
raspberry jam (or your own chia berry jam for a RSF version)

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C.
In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients (down to an including the baking powder) with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Use the back of a measuring cup to squish out any lumps in the almond meal if required (to avoid using a sieve). Add the lemon zest and stir to combine.
In a smaller bowl, first whisk together the coconut oil and nut butter until smooth. If you are using soft coconut oil, don't stress if there are a few little lumps, they (believe it or not) won't affect your cookies. Add the maple syrup and vanilla to the nut/oil mix and stir until smooth.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and bring together (with a spoon and then your hands) until it forms a dough.
Place little balls (a heaped tsp-ish) of the mixture (don't' make them too big, they expand ever so slightly while cooking) on a lined baking tray.
Dampen a finger (doesn't have to be your thumb - scandalous I know!!) and make a little indent in each biscuit, smoothing out their edges so they're not so cracked.
In a small bowl add a tbsp or two (at a time) of jam, and stir it until super smooth. Add a little jam to the centre of each biscuit (not over-filling them), then bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes or until lightly golden in colour.
Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before tempting your taste-buds.