Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies are filled with your favorite jam, for an easy gluten-free cookie. They couldn’t be easier to make!
Why You’ll Love Them
They’re easy to prepare. This recipe calls for just one type of flour, and you can stir the cookie dough together in one bowl. They will be baking in the oven before you know it!
You can make multiple flavors. If you love variety, you can use a mix of jam flavors to make several different options. Try apricot jam, strawberry or raspberry jam, or you could even use melted chocolate in the center for a non-fruit Christmas cookie.
They’re gluten-free & vegan. If you need a dairy-free, egg-free, or grain-free option to serve during the holiday season, this recipe checks all of those boxes!
They taste amazing. The combination of tender almond cookies and tart jam make this dessert just as delicious as the traditional version made with white flour.
Ingredients You’ll Need
What do you need for thumbprint cookies?
- Blanched almond flour
- Maple syrup
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Salt
- Jam
What I love about this recipe, is you don’t need multiple gluten-free flours to make it. All you need is almond flour!
To keep this recipe naturally sweetened, you can use homemade chia seed jam, or your favorite store-bought option. Raspberry jam pairs perfectly with the almond flavor!
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies
1. Mix the dough.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, baking powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, almond extract, and salt. Stir well, until the dough looks thick and slightly sticky.
2. Shape the cookies.
Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to scoop the dough, and roll each one between your hands. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
Press your thumb into the center of each ball, creating an indentation for the jam to go into. Add a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the center of each cookie.
3. Bake.
Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 12 to 15 minutes, until the bottom edges of the cookies start to look lightly golden brown.
The paleo thumbprint cookies will be very soft when you remove them from the oven, but they will firm up as they cool.
Let them cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes, then you can transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. They will have a slightly crisp outside, and a soft, tender texture in the center under the jam.
Serve the cookies at room temperature once they are cool, or store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gluten-free flours all work differently, so if you need to use a different flour, I would recommend starting off with a recipe that calls for the type of flour you want to use. Coconut flour requires a totally different ratio of ingredients compared to almond flour, and so does oat flour, and a gluten-free flour blend. Browse my gluten-free cookie recipes for more options.
You could use butter instead of the oil, if you don’t need this recipe to be dairy-free.
If you don’t want to use jelly as the filling, you can also use melted chocolate, or try pressing a pecan into the center for a crunchy alternative.
Looking for more almond flour cookie recipes? Try Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, and Almond Flour Sugar Cookies.
Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 tablespoons jam of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond extract, baking powder, and salt. Stir well, until the dough looks thick and slightly sticky.
- Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough then roll it between your hands to form a ball. Place the ball on the prepared baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining dough forming 18 balls. Arrange them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Press your thumb into the center of each ball, creating an indentation. Add a ½ teaspoon of jam into the center of each cookie. Bake at 350ºF for 12 to 15 minutes, until the bottom edges of the cookie start to look golden.
- The cookies will feel very soft to the touch when you remove them from the oven, but they will firm up as they cool on the pan. Let them cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Serve the cookies right away, or store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these gluten-free thumbprint cookies, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like them!
what makes dried, as opposed to fresh, cherries properly combined with almond flour and the like?
Fresh fruit digests very quickly, thanks to its high-water content, so it would start to ferment if eaten with almonds, which digest at a slower rate. Since dried fruit has most the moisture removed, it will then digest slower, at a rate similar to nuts and seeds.
you’re so knowledgeable about food combining – thanks for responding. do you mind providing the resource that taught you about this. (i know there are other sites and books, but i’m curious about where you learned it from!)
thanks and have a great day!
I’ve read about it in many books since, but I first learned of it and started following the method after reading The Raw Food Detox Diet, written by my mentor, Natalia Rose.
Hi! Love this! Question; Can this dough be frozen ? Refrigerated?Thanks! Love your Blog
Yes, I think it would work well chilled from the fridge or freezer, too!
If I was to put chocolate in like a kiss cookie instead of the cherry jam, what would you recommend?
I used to make cookies similar to that, using a mini peanut butter cup, and with those, you add the chocolate immediately after baking while they’re still hot, so that it will melt into the center. I’ve never seen a high-quality dark chocolate kiss, but maybe a small square of 70% dark chocolate would work? Let us know if you have any success!
These were amazing – I did the filling with blueberry preserves and some with hazelnut – I think the addition with the almond extract sends these over the top – Your recipes are amazing and this is my new favorite cookie – Happy Holidays and Blessings !
Can’t wait to make these. I made one the other week with oats but this looks amazing too! Love your site 🙂
Thanks, Julie. Hope you enjoy them!
I’m definitely making these for the bf’s family next week! YUMMMMM!!
Oh and my favorite jam is definitely FIG JAM!
I bet fig jam would be fantastic with these, too! 🙂
I have yet to splurge on some almond flour, but all of your cookies look so good! I usually try to sub almond meal, since I have so much from making almond milk, so I may try that here too! 🙂
I actually used almond meal in the batch pictured above! It works great, just not as “pretty” as blanched almond flour. 🙂
is there a difference in fat content between almond meal and almond flour or are they the same thing?
I don’t think there is much fat content stored in almond skins, so I doubt there would be much difference between the two!
This just brought tears to my eyes because I am sooooo excited!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe. These are my FAVORITE and I was wondering how I could make them gluten and grain-free!!!
Yay! I hope you love them. 🙂
These cookies look fantastic. I just added this recipe to my holiday baking list!
And, regarding your jam flavor question, I absolutely love raspberry jam. I think I love it so much because raspberry seeds add a little crunch. That probably sounds weird…but it is true!
Thank you for making them vegan! Are they soft and chewy cookies?
I’m not crazy about coconut anything. Is there something I can substitute for the coconut oil? It doesn’t have to be vegan.
thanks.
Butter can always be substituted for coconut oil.
How can I use liquid stevia instead of maple syrup? Also, I think a cranberry sauce filling would be awesome. In terms of slowing the digestion if fresh fruits are used, I would recommend making homemade jam with fresh fruit of choice and thickening it with chia seeds. I made a batch in the past and it was absolutely amazing.
I haven’t tried using stevia in this recipe, so you’ll have to experiment and let us know how it goes! The cranberry filling sounds delicious. 🙂
How come yours have speechless of something and mine don’t? Mine are still baking so haven’t tasted yet
These look SO delicious! I’ve been using more and more almond flour in my baking, so I can’t wait to try these! By the way, I love all of your food pictures; my mouth literally waters just looking at them! 🙂
These are fantastic! My favorite grain-free treat I’ve tried yet. The “jam” is perfect, I love cherry, wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks! I’m so glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
this recipe is from elanas pantry!!!!
Does she have a recipe posted that is similar to this? I just searched her site, and I can’t find it.
Since very few recipes seem to be truly “original” anymore, I always make a point of linking to the source of my inspiration. In this case, it wasn’t Elana’s Pantry, but I have definitely considered her to be a resource for other delicious grain-free ideas!
I just made these and am enjoying one as I type. Amazing!!! So delicious!!! Thanks for sharing recipe with us.
Oh, I am making these tomorrow! One of my favorite cookies before we changed our diet was a thumbprint cookie with raspberry preserves and a lemon glaze. Can’t wait to try these!
These are soooo good. I subbed earth balance for the coconut oil, vanilla extract for the almond, and added about a teaspoon of cinnamon. I also just used store bought jam for the filling. The turned out delicious! Can’t even believe they are vegan!
This makes THE best thumbprint cookies ever! I have been baking batches and batches since you posted. I made the cherry jam which was full of flavor! When I ran out of that I made some with blueberries! Yummy! Thanks so much for the healthy recipes!
These are fabulous! Was a huge hit with everyone at Christmas…including the kids! I am craving them as I write this…..
Delish! I made these especially for my mom because she loves linzer tarts and these are kinda close to them, but much healthier! I didn’t have enough almond flour so I had to use 1 c. white flour but they were still tasty. Also used dried cranberries instead of cherries. My sister who doesn’t like healthy food raved about them!
Thanks
OMG these are amazing! I’m on a really restricted diet to test for food sensitivities and I’ve been craving something sweet and not processed like all the gluten free stuff at the stores! These are perfect! Just made these and shared the recipe with all my friends on fb. Thanks!
Even my husband who doesn’t always like “healthy stuff” LOVED these cookies! The flavor and texture is amazing. I used organic strawberry preserves as the filling. Thanks for the delicious recipe! 🙂
I didn’t have all the ingredients listed so I subbed agave for the maple syrup, more vanilla for the almond extract and smart balance butter substitute for coconut oil. I also added some unsweetened coconut flakes into the batter and rolled each ball in the same coconut flakes. I also live at high altitude so I had to bake these for about 25 minutes. They turned out SO good! I’m already baking my 2nd batch since late last night when I found this website for the recipe!
I made a batch of these for Christmas, but didn’t have a measuring cup, so used a whole bag of Bob’s Red Mill almond flour (thinking the weight measure on the bag was 2 cup equivalent). They turned out delicious! so this time I halved the coconut oil and maple syrup but measured 2 cups of flour. Perfect again! So, for anyone looking for a slightly lower fat/lower sugar cookie, try halving the liquid ingredients.
Thanks for the great recipe! We put raspberry jam in them.
I made it yesterday with home made Almond Flour, Ghee and Maple syrup. I added 1/2 cup of jaggery and sesame mixture to it. It came out wonderfully yummy and looked so good. Thanks for the awesome recipe. We put raspberry jam in them.
Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Thanks
Sure, you’re always welcome to share links back to my blog.
Your recipe inspired mine, so thank you! You can call mine semi-homemade.
Definitely trying yours soon!
http://theoutofofficediet.blogspot.com/2014/08/addicting-vegan-thumbprint-cookie-recipe.html
Hi I noticed in just about all the recipes they call for pure maple syrup, or honey my question to you is…isn’t that high sugar? I’m new to the lc/ paleo and my hubby diabetes is slightly high and I’m worried. Can you shed me
Some light your recipe look amazing and want to try them… Thank u kindly
Any baked good wouldn’t be a regular thing to consume on a Paleo diet (even without grains) but, when used as a replacement for a traditional cookie recipe, this one is higher in protein and healthy fats and should have a lower impact on your blood sugar.
I just made these with organic grape jelly and extra vanilla extract to make up for my lack of almond extract. They are rediculously delicious!!!! My husband, who does not like almond meal anything and generally doesn’t like thumbprint cookies, was even impressed by these and eating them behind my back! You never fail us!
Can these be frozen after being cooked and then eaten after they have thawed?
Yes, almond flour cookies freeze very well– sometimes we just eat them cold from the freezer!
Great thank you so much. I’m from Australia and lots of your delicious recipes are being made here. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for this recipe! It is so good! I used organic raspberry jam from Trader Joe’s as I didn’t have cherries available. Looking forward to making it again with cherries.
Holy Cow! These are incredible! Thank you for this recipe. t is the first one of yours that I have made and so I am looking forward to makin more of your recipes. Perfect as I am GF and a vegan.
We made these and they flattened out completely while baking. Not sure what went wrong. Any clues?! Maybe our almond meal was too coarse?
Love these cookies but I’m not sure how to store them. Do these need to be refrigerated?
These look and sound delish!! I am sensitive (inflammation)to vanilla. Could I either omit the vanilla extract or increase the amount of the almond extract? Thanks.
Yes, I think you omit the vanilla without issues.
Hi, I have made this recipe several times before and I love it. However this time I made it, the dough wouldn’t stay together at all and seemed very wet/oily for some reason. I couldn’t roll the dough into balls and the biscuits kept crumbling apart and completely lost their shape once baked. I would be really grateful if you could please let me know what might have caused this. The only difference to the other times I have made this is that previously I had used a nutri bullet to make the almond flour but this time I used a food processor. However the final flour looked very similar in consistency, perhaps slightly coarser. Thank you very much!
So tasty! I crave these every year since I first found them in 2018! Would subbing cassava flour 1:1 with almond work? I am going to give it a go anyways… will keep you posted haha
Update…cassava flour COULD be really great with this recipe as it lends well to a shortbready tase…but it needs more tinkering for to go smoothly. I was only able to do 1 c cassava and the taste is great (thanks to the almond extract too!) but they are almost dry and crumbly…so maybe increasing the coconut oil?
And it only yielding 9 cookies…LOL
Oopsie. I only got 14 cookies this round. SO DELISH! THANK YOU 😁
I’m in Barbados and difficult to get maple syrup, could I replace with honey?
Hi Megan! I just made this recipe yesterday and it looks like today you updated it with jam filling instead of the homemade cherry jam. Is there any chance you can include the cherry jam again? I really loved that!
Hi Ashley! The original cherry jam filling is still listed in the notes of the printable recipe!
These look awesome!. Never tried a recipe of yours that I didn’t love. However, I can’t stop thinking about maybe trying a chocolate version, lol… any suggestions on how much cocoa powder to add or how I could adjust the ingredients to keep the cocoa powder from drying out the dough?
So yummy! I had made this recipe and my husband took some to my aunt who happened to be in town from Montana. She professionally makes sugar cookies for weddings, corporate gatherings, and other things. She loved these cookies and was fascinated that the almond flour didn’t need any additional starch or binder to make it hold together so well. I used raspberry jam for the middle filling.
Looking forward to trying these! Need to substitute gluten-free flour for the almond flour, though,because of a nut allergy. Any thoughts on using Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 GF flour in this? Would I use the same amount? New to using GF flours! Thanks!
These were so simple and delicious! Love the almond extract in them. First Christmas cookie of the season. Looking forward to trying out your cinnamon rolls this week
Quick and easy recipe! Good for smaller kids to help and just delicious if you love almonds.
I’m obsessed with these! This is my second time making them. It’s a great way to use up extra homemade jam. So easy and soooo delicious.
These cookies are delicious! Easy to make. Made some with marionberry jam and some with marmalade and both were yummy! Thank you for the recipe. Looking forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Cookies were delicious. Will make these often!
My mom and I made some loquat jam for the first time with some loquats given to us by a neighbor.. I found this cookie recipe and we made it with loquat jam. We got 17 cookies made and almost all of them were consumed yesterday right away. My husband finally tried one and loved it. This recipe is a keeper!
After the first bite, my husband said these were his new favorite cookies and they tasted so buttery without any butter! We were shocked! I didn’t have almond extract so I used additional vanilla and added some cinnamon like another reviewer suggested. I made your strawberry chia seed jam last night and used that for the jam! THANK YOU for another life long cookie recipe !!