The Conscientious Eater: PB&J Thumbprint Cookies

I tried out another dessert recipe from the Forks Over Knives cookbook and it turned out great! I was licking the dough off my fingers before these cookies even made it into the oven (don't worry, I washed my hands after).

My husband has quite the sweet tooth, so I like to have dessert that are as healthy as possible available for him. I want him to be able to satisfy his sweet tooth while also getting some nutrients in his belly. While these cookies have sugar in them, they are butter and oil free and have healthy fats from raw almond butter and fiber from rolled oats and oat flour. They remind me of a rich PB&J sandwich, hence the name. Hope you like them!

PB&J Thumbprint Cookies

(Makes 20 cookies)

Ingredients:

· 1/4 cup almond butter, or nut butter of choice

· 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

· 1/2 cup natural cane sugar

· 1 tablespoon flaxseed

· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 1 3/4 cups oat flour*

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

· 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

· 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

· 1/4 cup strawberry jam, or other berry jam

*If you don’t have oat flour, you can make it yourself. Place old-fashioned rolled oats into a food processor and process until they turn into flour. For me, 3 cups of rolled oats yielded 2 1/2 cups of oat flour. Store in an air tight container.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together the almond butter, applesauce, sugar and flaxseed until combined. Then add in the vanilla extract and stir a little more.

3. Add in the oat flour, baking soda and sea salt and mix well. Then fold in the old fashioned oats and chopped walnuts.

4. Scoop out two tablespoons of dough at a time and roll it into balls and place on the line baking sheet. You can probably fit all 20 cookies on one sheet because they won’t expand while baking.

5. Once all the dough has been rolled into balls, wet your thumb with some water and press a deep thumbprint into the center of each ball of dough.

6. Place 1/2 teaspoon of jam into the thumbprint of each cookie

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack or plate to cool.

8. Store in an air tight container or in the fridge if keeping them longer than a few days.

9. Enjoy your bite-sized piece of childhood!