Back in my pre-vegan days, I used to love a good cookie swap party. Now that I’m vegan and don’t have many vegan friends close-by, I’m bringing the cookie swap party to Keepin’ It Kind! Each day, for 25 days, one of my favorite bloggers will visit and share one of their favorite holiday cookies! That’s 25 Days of Cookies, my friends! Happy Holidays!
Ever since I discovered Luminous Vegans about 8 months ago (I know, right?! Where was I?), I’ve tried not to miss a post. Ketty’s sense of humor and writing style just tickle my funny bone, her recipes always look so delicious and inviting, and I never tire of the pictures of her dogs. Her blog has definitely become one of my favorites and I am just giddy to have her here today!
When Kristy invited me to this year's cookie swap party, I eagerly accepted as Kristy is one of my favorite bloggers. Sure I'd be moving across country around that time. And yeah, I'm not a baker and had never created a cookie recipe before. No problem! Riiight....that's when panic set in. What was I thinking??
Though I don't make or create cookies often, I like to eat a lot of cookies a lot of the time. So I knew exactly what I wanted to bring to the swap. Jam-filled thumbprint cookies. I wanted them to have a vanilla-almond shortbread-y base with actual almond flecks in them. And I wanted them to be a little crunchy on the outside but softer on the inside with a raspberry filling. It was a tall order for a cookie newb. So began weeks and weeks of some intense cookie recipe testing (and the best part, intense cookie eating).
I started with a simple shortbread recipe, subbing in refined coconut oil for margarine. That's when I learned that coconut oil did not make a good 1 to 1 sub for margarine in this case. What followed was some seriously hardcore scientific experiments in my kitchen. Thanks to all my science teachers for showing me that in any good experiment, you only change one variable (ingredient in this case) at a time. It helped and actually works.
I wasthisclose to gettin' this cookie down, but it was still a little too crumbly to make a proper cookie. The inspiration to add almond milk came from this recipe by Mihl. And when I added it...well, let's just say that I imagine that this is what Marie Curie must have felt like when she discovered radium. Surely one day they'll expand Nobel Prizes to include vegan cookies, right?
These buttery almond cookies are flecked with real almond pieces and have sweet raspberry jam centers that shine like rubies. They're not overly sweet and have hints of almond flavor in each bite. The outside has a slight crunch that complements the chewier inside. Mission accomplished. Thank you so much Kristy for hosting such a fun and festive event!
Ketty’s Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 level tbs of refined coconut oil (Note that the oil should be solid and does not have to be packed into the spoon)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (I used raw almonds with the skin on and my food processor for this)
- 2 tbs almond milk
- 1-2 tbs of raspberry jam
- powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Add the coconut oil, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract to a bowl. Use a fork to cream everything together until it makes a sugar paste. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and almond meal.
- Add the flour mix to the sugar paste and mix with a fork until the flour mix is incorporated with the "wet" ingredients. You will have a semi-moist crumbly mess at this point.
- Next add the almond milk. Mix with a fork initially but then switch to kneading it with your hands. The dough is drier and more crumbly than most cookie doughs but with some kneading and mushing it will moisten and be one cohesive dough ball.
- To make the individual cookies, tear off chunks from the dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Push in about half way through the center of each ball with your thumb to make a "thumbprint". It's okay if the dough cracks on the edges a little when you do this.
- Bake on a parchment lined pan for 6 minutes at 350F. Take the cookies out and fill each center with about 1/4 tsp of raspberry jam. I find that the "thumbprints" aren't as deep after baking for 6 minutes. So before filling them with jam, I "refreshen" the thumbprints by gently pressing the center in with the back of the 1/4 tsp spoon.
- Bake for another 6 minutes and then take out and let them cool completely before eating. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Notes
adapted/inspired by Simply Heavenly and Seitan is My Motor
Ingredients
- 4 level tbs of refined coconut oil (Note that the oil should be solid and does not have to be packed into the spoon)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (I used raw almonds with the skin on and my food processor for this)
- 2 tbs almond milk
- 1-2 tbs of raspberry jam
- powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Add the coconut oil, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract to a bowl. Use a fork to cream everything together until it makes a sugar paste. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and almond meal.
- Add the flour mix to the sugar paste and mix with a fork until the flour mix is incorporated with the "wet" ingredients. You will have a semi-moist crumbly mess at this point.
- Next add the almond milk. Mix with a fork initially but then switch to kneading it with your hands. The dough is drier and more crumbly than most cookie doughs but with some kneading and mushing it will moisten and be one cohesive dough ball.
- To make the individual cookies, tear off chunks from the dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Push in about half way through the center of each ball with your thumb to make a "thumbprint". It's okay if the dough cracks on the edges a little when you do this.
- Bake on a parchment lined pan for 6 minutes at 350F. Take the cookies out and fill each center with about 1/4 tsp of raspberry jam. I find that the "thumbprints" aren't as deep after baking for 6 minutes. So before filling them with jam, I "refreshen" the thumbprints by gently pressing the center in with the back of the 1/4 tsp spoon.
- Bake for another 6 minutes and then take out and let them cool completely before eating. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Notes
adapted/inspired by Simply Heavenly and Seitan is My Motor
Ketty is a constantly evolving long time vegan who enjoys showing people how easy and delicious a compassionate lifestyle can be. She lives with her partner and two rescued greyhounds in Atlanta, GA. They are currently packing up and trading in the hot summers of the south for the lush and damp Pacific Northwest. You can read more of Ketty’s creative and deceptively simple recipes, lifestyle-related posts and ruminations on animal rights at luminousvegans.com.
Annie
Thanks for sticking with the experimentation, Ketty! The cookies are beautiful!
luminousvegans
Thanks Annie! I think my science teachers would be as happy as my belly was.
Richa
the cookies look beautiful and very festive! i love Ketty's elegant dogs!
luminousvegans
I thought they looked very festive too Richa! Something about powdered sugar makes me feel like I'm in a winter wonderland.
And trust me, my dogs my look elegant but they are complete goofballs. They're like Audrey Hepburn on the outside and Chris Farley on the inside.
Kelli
Oh, these are amazing, Ketty! I love thumbprint cookies and the crunchy almond flavor must be incredible! I'm ready to go make some right now.... Love your story, and good luck with your move!
luminousvegans
Thank you so much Kelli! These cookies were definitely a labor of love and quite a learning experience for my non-baking self so it's really appreciated!
Emma
I'm mad about the almond raspberry combo! I used to make a really similar recipe way back in my non-vegan days so it's great to have it veganized 🙂
luminousvegans
Awesome Emma! I think almond and raspberry make a great combo as well. I got lucky that I had raspberry jam in the fridge because I was just using what we had on hand. These totally could have been strawberry or orange marmalade thumbprints but I think the raspberry works the best!
Anna {Herbivore Triathlete}
These look and sound incredible Ketty! I am so glad that you took on the challenge and stuck with the experimentation, the cookies look spectacular.
luminousvegans
Thank you Anna! It was such a fun challenge to take and I'm so happy to have been invited to partake.
Cadry
What pretty cookies! Thumbprints are always so festive. I'm going to start my door-to-door Nobel Prize campaign as soon as I change out of pajamas. 🙂
luminousvegans
Thank you Cadry! Thumbprints have always been a favorite cookie of mine which is why I chose to bring them. I totally agree with their festive qualities. They just scream winter wonderland to me (especially with the powdered sugar).
If you need help with the Nobel Prize campaign, let me know 😉 . I think we'd have some serious contenders here at this vegan cookie swap!
luminousvegans
Kristy, I just wanted to thank you again so much for inviting me to the cookie swap! Creating this cookie was such a rewarding learning experience for me and I feel so lucky to be a part of something so fun and festive. I've been drooling over all the cookies at the party so far and look forward to the rest of the month.
emili
these look amazing! quick question though, any reason why the coconut oil needs to be refined? i only ever buy organic virgin coconut oil, so thats what i have on hand...
luminousvegans
Hi there Emili! Consistency wise I believe refined and unrefined coconut oil are the same. However, refined coconut oil does not have a coconut flavor. I think you can use unrefined organic coconut oil but the cookies will have a coconut taste to it. If you like coconut flavor, I say go for it! You could even experiment with a more tropical tasting jam to go with the coconut flavor. I'd love to hear how it goes!
Randi (laughfrodisiac)
Those look awesome! I've only come around to thumbprint cookies in the past year or so. I don't know what was wrong with me before!
Love what you are doing with this cookie swap! It's fun bringing all these bloggers together.
Heather
I adore thumb print cookies - so festive!
Rosemary
These look great. What kind of flour did you use?
luminousvegans
Hi Rosemary! Thanks! I just used regular all purpose flour.
Sarah
I've made these cookies three times. I love them! Here are some modifications I made....
The first time I didn't soften my coconut oil at all and it was really chunky, too chunky. The second and third time I softened it a bit, just 15-18 seconds in the microwave did the trick. Not liquid, but not rock hard. I live in a cold place and high elevation.
Instead of 1 cup regular AP flour, I did half cup AP flour, half cup WW flour.
I didn't have whole almonds, so I subbed almond flour for this. Turns out beautifully with the almond flour. I would like to try it according to the recipe though, it's probably better with the whole almonds chopped up, for extra texture and flavor.
I added about 1/4 cup hemp seeds and a tbsp or so of maca powder.
I used at least 3T almond milk to get it to come together. Maybe more.
These cookies are bomber, I love them. They come together so easily and quickly.
Thanks for the great recipe!
luminousvegans
Awesome! I am so glad that you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing the modifications.