Author Notes
Since adapting a healthier lifestyle, I've been looking to develop healthier alternatives for my sugar-filled favorites. These thumbprint cookies have no sugar (just natural sweeteners like pure maple syrup and honey!) and can be adapted to be vegan if you substitute another sweetener for the honey. A mix of oat bran, flaxseed, quick oats and flour was used to create more depth and texture to the cookie, but feel free to use just oats or just oat bran and use whatever type of flour you want -- these are infinitely adaptable! —Miranda Batch
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Ingredients
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1/4 cup
oat bran
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1/4 cup
quick-cooking oats
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1/4 cup
golden flaxseed meal (or any other type of flaxseed)
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1/4 cup
oat flour (or any other type of gluten-free flour)
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1/2 tablespoon
cinnamon
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1/4 cup
canola or olive oil (you may need a little less)
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1 tablespoon
honey
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1/2 tablespoon
maple syrup
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2
flax eggs
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1 splash
vanilla extract (optional)
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Jam of choice (I used raspberry)
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prep flax eggs by adding 2 tablespoons of golden flaxseed meal (or any kind of flaxseed) and 5 tablespoons of water to a bowl and mixing together. (This is enough for the two flax eggs needed for this recipe) Set aside and let thicken.
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Mix oat bran, quick-cooking oats, flaxseed, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. If making your own oat-flour, simply pulverize gluten-free oats in a food processor until it reaches a coarse meal.
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Measure out just under 1/4 cup oil and add the honey, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix together.
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Add the flax egg mixture and oil, honey, maple syrup and vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together. The mixture may be quite dense, this is normal. However, feel free to add more flour or oil or a few drops of water if you feel you need to.
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Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Using your hands, form approximately 10 balls with your dough and place them on the baking sheet. These cookies don't spread much, so they can be relatively close together. Press down each ball with your finger to form a well in the center of the cookie to fill with jam.
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With a small spoon, spoon your jam of choice into the wells of the cookies you just created.
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Bake cookies for approximately 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
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