These easy Buckwheat Jam Thumbprint Cookies are gluten free, vegan and a healthy alternative to the classic recipe. They are made with nuts, buckwheat flour and your favorite jam. Raspberry, strawberry, apricot, cherry or blackcurrant jam are all delicious.
The recipe is a variation of Lalo’s Famous Cookies from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook My Father’s Daughter. The original recipe used barley flour and canola oil. It also gave a yield of 60 cookies. I adjusted the recipe to use buckwheat flour to keep the cookies gluten free and extra virgin olive oil instead of canola oil. I also reduced the quantity to make 16 cookies because I don’t want to find out how quickly I can eat 60 cookies.
How to make healthy jam thumbprint cookies
Jam thumbprint cookies are traditionally made with butter, wheat flour and sugar. You make a small indentation in the middle of each cookie, like a ‘thumbprint’, then fill it with jam. I love the classic version, but this recipe is great if you want something a little healthier with less processed ingredients.
Instead of butter, these healthy thumbprint cookies are made with extra virgin olive oil. The earthy flavor of the oil is balanced out by maple syrup, which is used to sweeten the cookies. It also gives the cookies a more crumbly, shortbread-like texture and keeps this cookie recipe vegan and dairy free.
To replace the need for wheat flour, this recipe uses a blend of buckwheat flour and ground raw almonds. Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten free, so it’s handy for those who can’t eat gluten. The almonds provide good fats and some additional fiber.
Why do my thumbprint cookies crack?
If your thumbprint cookies crack, it could be because the dough isn’t smooth enough. First, make sure you blend your almonds until they are as fine as possible. If you still have larger chunks of almond, the final dough will be less smooth and more likely to crack.
Second, make sure you roll the dough into a smooth ball before pressing with your finger to make the indentation. If your mixture is too dry and crumbly, stir through a little extra olive oil until you get a smooth dough.
Third, I recommend using your index or middle finger to make the indentations, rather than your thumb. I find that this allows you to do it more precisely with more control. You can watch the recipe video below to see how I do it.
Should you fill thumbprint cookies before or after baking?
It is best to fill jam thumbprint cookies before baking them. This allows the jam to ‘set’ into the cookie. The heat of the oven evaporates some of the moisture from the jam so it sets with a firmer texture.
When removing your jam thumbprint cookies from the oven, the jam will be very hot. That is why you need to be quite strict about letting them cool before eating them. You don’t want to burn your tongue and then not be able to taste properly.
Ingredients for buckwheat jam thumbprint cookies
- Raw almonds: Raw and unsalted almonds work best. I imagine that you could also use walnuts, cashew nuts, brazil nuts or a mixture of nuts if you prefer.
- Buckwheat flour: Buckwheat flour is needed to hold the cookies together and it keeps them gluten free. You should be able to use all-purpose flour if you don’t need the cookies to be gluten free.
- Extra virgin olive oil: An extra virgin olive oil is ideal for added health benefits. But any plain olive oil that is not flavored or infused will work.
- Maple syrup: Maple syrup works best as the sweetener for this recipe. You should be able to use honey if you prefer, but maple syrup is my preference here.
- Cinnamon powder: Cinnamon gives the cookies a subtle earthiness. Since we only use a small amount, it doesn’t make the cookies taste like cinnamon. You can leave it out if you prefer.
- Fine salt: Salt brings out the flavors in whatever you are baking.
- Jam of your choice: Any jam will work in this recipe. Strawberry, raspberry, apricot, blackcurrant, blueberry or cherry would all be delicious.
More healthy baking recipes
- Small Batch Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Almond Olive Oil Shortbread Cookies
- Gluten Free Gingerbread Cookies with Almond Flour
- Almond Flour Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread without Dairy
You can find more healthy baking ideas on the Baking Recipes page.
Buckwheat Jam Thumbprint Cookies Recipe
Serves
16 cookies
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup / 98 g raw almonds
- 1 cup / 120 g buckwheat flour (see Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml / 54 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml / 85 g maple syrup
- 1/4 cup / 70 g jam of choice
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160°C fan-forced / 180°C / 350°F and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Process the almonds in a food processor or blender until finely ground. Place them in a mixing bowl and add the buckwheat flour, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine. Add the olive oil and maple syrup and mix well until you get a dough.
- Press the mixture into 16 balls and place them on the lined baking tray. I do this by pressing the mixture into one large sausage, splitting it in two, then splitting each half in two and repeating this twice more on each portion to get 16 portions. Use your fingers to make an indentation in the middle of each cookie.
- Spoon some jam into the indentation in each cookie. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are just starting to brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the tray. The jam will be very hot straight out of the oven, so let them cool before eating.
Notes
- Flour – I recommend weighing your flour in grams on a food scale for best results. You should be able to use all-purpose flour instead of buckwheat flour if you don’t need the cookies to be gluten free.
- Storage – The cookies are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Energy: 119 Calories / 498 Kilojoules
- Total Fat: 6.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Total Carbohydrate: 13.8 g
- Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
- Sugars: 6.1 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Sodium: 33 mg
- Potassium: 99 mg
I recommend to weigh your almonds and flour because I used cups measurements and it didn’t quite work out for me (it was wayy too dry). I adjusted it before cooking with more oil and maple syrup and it turned out ok (not crumbling too much). The taste was good though! Good recipe to use your buckwheat flour!
I agree, definitely best to weigh the almonds and flour in grams! I’m glad it turned out ok in the end 🙂
Just wondering if I could reduce the amount of maple syrup?
Hi Tracy, the maple syrup balances the earthiness of the buckwheat flour and olive oil, so reducing it may not taste ideal! If you wanted to lower the sugar content of the cookies, you could reduce the amount of jam spooned into each cookie instead 🙂
What purpose do the nuts serve? Is there anything I can substitute instead? Thanks!
The nuts contribute to the flavor and texture of the cookies, so they are tricky to remove in this recipe. If you didn’t want to use almonds, you could use another nut like walnuts or cashew nuts instead. Alternatively, you can check out these nut-free recipes. I hope that helps!
What do you think about omitting oil & using an egg or couple yolks for that missing fat? Haven’t had much luck finding oil free recipes that aren’t also vegan
I wouldn’t recommend swapping out the oil for egg or yolk in this recipe because it would likely give a dry result. However, you could check out these Flourless Zucchini Brownies or these Chocolate Chip Tahini Blondies, which are both oil free and use an egg. Hope that helps.