Healthy Thumbprint Cookies |Cooking With Amanda

I think I finally found a healthy cookie that I actually like. This is huge. You see, cookies are my weakness. They're the one thing that I am powerless to resist. Cake, no problem. Candy, not really an issue. Brownies... well, those are tough to avoid too. The chocolate gets me.

But cookies? They're impossible to resist. Especially ones involving chocolate.

I've tried making healthy cookies, or breakfast cookies, or any version of cookie that isn't loaded with butter and sugar and chocolate chips, but they've all been rather disappointing. I mean, I'll still eat them, but they won't eliminate a cookie craving. And if the real thing is also available, you better believe that that's the one I'm reaching for!

Healthy cookies just don't really compare.

But these. These I actually liked. These chocolate cherry thumbprint cookies actually had enough sweetness, and enough chocolatey taste to curb that cookie craving. They're chewy, and a bit fudgy, with chocolate, cherry, and almond flavours combining to make what is actually a really good cookie. Can you tell I was a bit surprised?

And there's no butter, no oil, and no refined sugar in them at all. They're even gluten free if you use gluten free oats and oat flour.

Of course, the sugar level depends on the jam you use to fill the thumbprints. I used a homemade cherry jelly that was very low sugar, but the amount would increase if you use regular jam. Although there's only a half teaspoon in each cookie so there still wouldn't be much. And I will admit that there is powdered sugar in the glaze, but it's a pretty minimal amount on each cookie and you could easily omit that. I actually put it on to pretty them up a bit more than anything!

These thumbprint cookies were a huge hit at our house. I loved them, the kids loved them, and my husband even ate a few - which is a really good indication that they were great! He generally steers clear of my "healthified" versions of food!

We will definitely be making these again soon. Having a healthy cookie available when we want a treat is just too good to resist!

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Healthy Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Cookies:

6 ounces pitted dates, about 1 cup
3/4 cup whole raw almonds
1/4 cup oat flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flax meal
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
5 tablespoons cherry jam, or jelly

For the Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a food processor, pulse the dates and the almonds until they are finely chopped. Add the oat flour, eggs, chia seeds, flax meal, rolled oats, honey, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa powder and process until the mixture is well combined and comes together into a dough. Add the mini chocolate chips and pulse a few times to mix them in evenly.
Scoop the dough by the tablespoonful (a one tablespoon cookie scoop works well for these) onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them one to two inches apart.
Lightly grease the end of a wooden spoon and use it to make a small indentation in the top of each cookie (or just make a hole with your thumb).
Place 1/2 teaspoon of the cherry jam or jelly into the hole in each cookie.
Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cookies are completely cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl, adding a little more milk if it's too thick. Drizzle the glaze across the cooled cookies, you might not need it all.
Allow the cookies to sit out for several hours and then store them in a container that is NOT airtight at room temperature. If you keep them in an airtight container they will get sticky to the touch, they keep the cookie like texture if they are stored in a non-airtight container. They keep well for up to one week.

Notes

You can use any kind of jam/jelly for these cookies, I used a homemade cherry jelly that was quite low sugar to keep them as healthy as possible. You could also omit the glaze if you'd like to eliminate the processed sugar, but you might want to increase the honey by a tablespoon or two if you do that as they might not be sweet enough without it. Again, they would be a bit sweeter if you use regular jam/jelly instead of low sugar.
To make sure these cookies are gluten-free, please use certified gluten free oats and oat flour.