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Healthy Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies made low calorie and gluten free are a delicious holiday cookie recipe with peppermint sprinkles on top!
Chocolate goes well with anything and these cookies serve up a double batch for you! Image a brownie like cookie with a creamy chocolate filling ... that's what these thumbprint cookies with icing taste like!
They're a healthier holiday cookie recipe that's lower in sugar and just 115 calories each! They're similar to my jelly thumbprint cookies only these are made with chocolate instead of jelly.
What Makes These Cookies Healthy?
I love making holiday cookies and I 100% believe that cookies are part of a healthy diet even when you're trying to lose weight. In fact, I ate a cookie a day losing 80 pounds and I promote that with my weight loss clients too.
It is very common for women who have done one-sized fits all diets to restrict cookies because diets have taught them the mindset that cookies are bad. Diets are really good at teaching you how to restrict foods but if permanent weight loss is your goal, you must practice eating normal foods like cookies otherwise the weight comes back.
Adjusting your mind around this concept and finding healthier cookie recipes like this one will help you keep the weight off for good! Here's a few reasons why this thumbprint cookie recipe is better for you.
- Low Calories - Each cookie is 115 calories and there are 12 cookies total. Technically I got 15 cookies when I made these, so you could make these a little lower in calories by making a few more cookies too!
- Low Sugar - Most recipes have way too much sugar in them. As a rule of thumb, I use half the amount of sugar recipes call for. They are just as delicious, but less addicting. This recipe uses coconut sugar, which is a little kinder to your insulin levels than other sugars.
- Gluten Free - This recipe uses gluten free ingredients.
- Lower Fat - Healthy fats are used in this recipe and only 3 of the 7 grams are coming from saturated fats (bad fat).
- Lower Carb - Carbs are 13 grams, 2 of which come from fiber (YES!). The ingredients are well balanced to keep the carbs lower.
Ingredients For Gluten Free Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
These chocolate thumbprint cookies are made gluten free. I am gluten free for my autoimmune disease and never bake with whole or white flours. Here are the ingredients you'll need to make your chocolate thumbprint cookies. If you need substitutions, those are further down in the post for you.
- Gluten Free Baking Flour
- Almond Flour
- Grass Fed Butter, unsalted
- Egg
- Almond Milk, unsweetened
- Ground Coffee
- Vanilla Extract
- Peppermint Extract
- Ground Coffee
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Chocolate chips
- Tahini
You will also need a large baking sheet, mixing bowl, parchment paper and if desired, candy canes for the top!
How To Make Low Calorie Thumbprint Cookies
It is easy to make healthier thumbprint cookies with chocolate! In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and peppermint with a whisk. Add the almond flour, cacao powder, baking soda, salt and coffee and mix together. Mix in the flour a little at a time with a spoon until combined. Whisk in the egg and almond milk until a sticky dough forms.
You do not need to chill the dough before baking, but you can chill it for 15-20 minutes to prevent from cracking. Scoop the dough out into 15 small balls on a parchment covered sheet pan. Use your thumb to press a hole into the ball.
Bake the cookies for at 375 F 7-9 minutes, or until they are firm. Remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool.
While the cookies cool, make the chocolate center, melt the chocolate chips in 15 second increments in a small microwave safe bowl until they are melted and can be mixed together. Stir in the tahini paste and the extract.
Spoon the chocolate into the center of the cookie until it is full then crush peppermint stick and sprinkle over the top if you desire.
How To Store Thumbprint Cookies
Store your cookies in an airtight container up to 2 weeks at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If you don't eat them all before then!
You can alternatively freeze your cookies up to 3 months in a container or plastic bag.
Substitutions For Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Here are the substitutions you could make for these cookies and my thoughts on the questions I know I will receive. Please remember that substituting ingredients will result in changes to the nutritional values.
- Flour - This is a gluten free thumbprint recipe. No other flours have been tested with the recipe. If you want to only use almond flour, I imagine it will work but you will need to test the ratios as almond flour is a bit more dense.
- Egg - I have not tested this recipe NOT using the egg. But if you need something egg free, I recommend trying an egg replacer, but I have not tested it myself yet.
- Butter - Ghee, melted coconut oil or another oil can be substituted. If you use coconut oil, it may result in cookies that taste slightly like coconut.
- Milk - Any milk will work in this recipe.
- Dairy Free - Use ghee or coconut oil in place of the butter and use dairy free chocolate chips.
- Cocoa Powder - You can swap for cacao
- Tahini - Peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter can replace this.
- Ground Coffee - Espresso powder can be subbed. You could omit this, but it really gives the cookies an amazing flavor.
- Peppermint Extract - This is optional and you can replace it with vanilla extract or orange extract.
- Coconut Sugar - I have not tested these with a sugar free sweetener, but I imagine you could swap with monkfruit. White sugar or light brown sugar should work fine as substitutes.
More Healthy Cookie Recipes
- Raspberry Coconut Thumbprint Cookies
- Healthy Sugar Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
Healthy Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
For the Cookie
- 3 tablespoons grass fed butter unsalted
- 1 teaspoon grass fed butter unsalted
- 5 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract or vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Gluten Free Baking Flour
- 1/2 tablespoon Gluten Free Baking Flour
- 5 tablespoons almond flour
- 3 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coffee
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoon unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
For the Chocolate Center
- 50 grams dairy free chocolate chips or any chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoon tahini or peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or peppermint extract
- Crushed candy canes as desired for the top
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F. Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and peppermint with a whisk. Add the almond flour, cacao powder, baking soda, salt and coffee and mix together.
- Mix in the flour a little at a time with a spoon until combined. Whisk in the egg and almond milk until a sticky dough forms.
- Scoop the dough out into 15 small balls on a parchment covered sheet pan. Use your finger or thumb to press a hole into the ball. They don’t need to be perfectly round, but make sure the indent is fairly deep.
- Bake the cookies for 7-9 minutes, or until they are firm. Remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool.
- Next make the chocolate center, melt the chocolate chips in 15 second increments in a small microwave safe bowl until they are melted and can be mixed together. Stir in the tahini paste and the extract.
- Once the cookies are cool, carefully spoon a small amount of the chocolate mixture into the center of the cookie. If you’d like, sprinkle some of the crushed candy canes on top. Let the chocolate center set before enjoying.
Notes
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my weight loss clients.
- If you enjoy this recipe, check out my cookbook for more low calorie recipes!
Nutrition
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