Gluten-free Cookies with Almond Flour

Gluten-free cookies with almond flour are a great way to get the cookies you enjoyed as a child without allergy issues. I first tasted the wonders of a thumbprint cookie when I was five years old and sat on an old three leg kitchen stool so that I could reach the kitchen cabinet.  Growing up, my Mom was the sole provider of thumbprints for baby and wedding showers at our church in Southern New Mexico.  Mom would always promise two dozen, but would make one extra cookie for me to sample. Mom’s were not gluten-free thumbprint cookies, as I didn’t have food allergies as a child.

When I discovered, I had food allergies to gluten, eggs and dairy, thumbprints were off limits.  Last year, I discovered almond flour and I was able to adjust her recipe to create Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies (Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free).  My creation includes all the sweet, chewy, nutty luscious flavors without impacting my health.  These cookies can be ‘filled’ with jam or jelly, but I always fill mine with my allergy friendly buttercream frosting that I include with the recipe below.

Allergy Free Brands

For ingredients, I use King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, ENERG Egg Replacer, MELT Vegan Butter Sticks or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.  MELT Vegan Butter Sticks taste amazingly like butter—but they are a bit salty.  I like the salty flavor that they add, but if you don’t like a salty sweet taste in cookies, use Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.  I always use Earth Balance in my buttercream frosting.  For more information on allergy friendly ingredients, see my post Allergy Friendly Recipes Everyone Loves.

Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies

  • Servings: 24
  • Difficulty: easy
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Gluten-free Thumbprint Cookies

(Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free)

Makes 24 cookies

1/4t soda

1/8t Bob’s Red Mill Xanthan Gum (scant)

1c King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour

3/4c Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour

1 stick (1/2c) MELT Vegan Butter Sticks softened (not melted)

1/4c light brown sugar

1t vanilla extract

1 ‘egg’ using  ENERG Egg Replacer + warm water

1c finely knife chopped pecans (do not grind them as it makes them sandy)

Whisk flours with soda and xanthan gum in small bowl.  Cream the vegan butter with the light brown sugar, adding sugar a little at a time until smooth and fluffy.  Add in ‘egg’ and vanilla extract.  Mix well.  Stir in flour mixture.  Roll into 24 balls.  Roll in chopped pecans pressing pecans into cookie ball.  Place cookie on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Make a deep indentation with your thumb shaping cookie to look like a small bowl.  Bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven about 8-10 minutes or until very light brown on the bottom of the cookie.  Let cookie cool on sheet a few minutes before removing to paper towel on a flat surface to cool completely.  Fill with colored buttercream frosting jam or jelly. 

If dough is too soft to form into a ball, chill it in the refrigerator until firm enough to form.  If dough is too stiff and crumbly, add water 1t at a time until correct consistency.  I always use this recipe and I have had it come out too soft one time and stiff and crumbly the other.  The amount of moisture in the flours impacts this.

Dairy Free Buttercream

Small recipe for cookie filling

2 T Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks softened

2-3c powdered sugar

1 ½T almond or dairy free milk (not creamer—dairy free creamer makes it strange)

1/2t vanilla extract

This frosting recipe isn’t an exact science, I have always made it by feel…

Place softened butter, 2c of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract in mixing bowl.  Beat together using a stand or hand mixer until smooth.  Check consistency!  If too stiff add milk one teaspoon at a time.  If too runny, add powdered sugar 1/4c at a time.  Add gel food coloring to get desired color.  Put 1t in each cookie.  NOTE:  I love frosting so I use more like ½ tablespoon per cookie.

Changes if not need for allergy friendly

Omit xanthan gum

Omit ‘egg’ made from ENERG egg replacement

Change MELT Vegan Butter stick to 1/4c butter and 1/4c shortening

Add 1 egg yolk to cookie batter

Replace King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour with regular flour

Lightly whip egg white left over from yolk added to cookies and dip raw cookie ball in whipped egg white before rolling in chopped nuts.

For the frosting replace the Earth Balance butter with butter and the almond milk with light cream or dairy milk.

For other great recipes: link to Allergy Friendly Recipes Everyone Loves