Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

The most delicious gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies that are soft and chewy, filled with spiced apple jelly and drizzled with maple icing for the perfect fall dessert!

You guys, it’s officially FALL and I could not be more excited! I love making the most of this season here in Virginia while the weather is absolutely perfect and the foliage on the trees starts changing from green to all those beautiful golden colors. Pumpkin patches, wineries, boots and scarves, it is seriously the best! Apple picking is always a must because there is just nothing better than the way your kitchen smells after baking all day with fresh apples and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

These Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies are EVERYTHING and one taste instantly reminds you that it is the best time of the year! These cookies were inspired by my favorite shortbread Christmas cookie that I typically make using raspberry jam. Well when I saw that Safeway is currently featuring their own Signature SELECT Spiced Apple Jelly, I knew I just had to turn my favorite holiday cookie into the most amazing fall dessert! Oh and trust me, your kitchen is going to smell AMAZING.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE THESE COOKIES

• Almond flour. This gives these cookies that classic almond flavor and texture needed for thumbprint cookies while also keeping them gluten-free!
• Oat flour. Using only almond flour tends to make cookies dense and crumbly, so adding a little oat flour helps to solve this problem. If you don’t have oat flour on hand you can also use whole wheat flour, regular all purpose flour or even gluten-free flour. You can also make your own oat flour by blending rolled oats (or instant oats) in your blender or food processor for 60 seconds until you get a fine, powdery flour!
• Cinnamon and nutmeg. My favorite spices for fall! This combination really helps to bring out all the apple and maple flavors in these cookies and it just tastes incredible all together.
• Butter (or coconut oil). Okay so I’ve made these cookies using both and YES you can achieve a soft, chewy cookie using either butter or coconut oil, but in my opinion using butter in this recipe is just the way to go. Coconut oil is a much healthier alternative, but we’re talking COOKIES here so I say splurge on the butter
• Maple syrup. I love the addition of the maple flavor in these cookies making it the perfect natural sweetener without having to use any refined sugar! You could also use honey in place of the maple syrup if you don’t have any in your pantry.
• Apple butter. This sneaky little addition makes these cookies oh SO flavorful! This is an optional add-in as these cookies will still taste great without it, but why not add a little more spice?!
• Vanilla extract. Since we’re all about flavor, just a little splash of this enhances these cookies so much!
• Spiced apple jelly. This spiced apple jelly is incredible with these cookies, but feel free to use any flavor jelly or jam you’d like!
• Walnuts. These are optional as well, but I think they add a really nice texture to these cookies. You could also use crushed pecans or almonds.

HOW TO MAKE THUMBPRINT COOKIES

One reason I love making these cookies, aside from the fact that they taste absolutely amazing, is how easy they are to make!

1. Simply mix together your flours, spices and baking soda in one bowl and in another bowl (I like to use my stand mixer) cream together the butter (or coconut oil), maple syrup, apple butter and vanilla extract. Then add in the flour mixture with the wet ingredients until all combined and place the dough in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes. Chilling the dough is important because it helps make the dough easier to work with so you can roll it into balls. I used a small cookie scoop to evenly make the balls and ended up with exactly 20 cookies.
2. Once you form the dough into about 20 balls, you’ll want to dip each ball into egg white and then into crushed walnuts that I finely blended using my food processor. The egg white helps hold the crushed walnuts onto the cookie and allows them to set when baking. Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
3. Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon or your finger, make a well in the center of each cookie by lightly pressing down. Then use that 1/2 teaspoon to fill each cookie with spiced apple jelly (or jelly of your choice).
4. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 15 to 18 minutes, until the edges are lightly brown. You’ll want to let them sit on the pan for an additional 5 minutes so that they can set before transferring to a wire rack to cool. The cookies will still be really soft when they come out of the oven, but that’s okay! Over-baking these can cause them to dry out, which we definitely don’t want.
5. Once the cookies have cooled, you can drizzle them with a delicious maple icing which is such a fun touch!

HOW TO ADD THAT MAPLE DRIZZLE

This is another optional addition to these already amazing cookies, but guys they just taste so dang good! To make the maple icing, you just need to whisk together a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of water and mix until smooth. That’s it! Then just use a spoon or fork to drizzle the maple icing over each cookie.

STOCKING UP ON FALL ESSENTIALS

All the ingredients for these delicious cookies were purchased at my local Safeway which is one of my favorite places to shop this time of year. Not only are they stocked and ready with all your fall favorites just in time for baking season, but their in-store bakery also offers pumpkin donuts, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin cakes/cupcakes! Other fun seasonal products Safeway is offering right now include Signature SELECT Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Spread, an assortment of Open Nature® Fall Flavors Granola, Signature SELECT Pumpkin Bread Mix and even Pumpkin Maple Butter!

I personally shop for Signature SELECT and Open Nature products exclusively at my local Safeway here in Virginia, but you can easily find these products at ALL the Albertsons Companies family of stores across the country, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market and Tom Thumb. Just use their store finder here! Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go for convenient ways to shop!

MORE FALL RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

• Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Almond Flour Pumpkin Bread
• Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
• Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Hope you all enjoy these delicious Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies and if you love them as much as we do, please leave me a five-star rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!

RECIPE

Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies

The most delicious gluten-free Apple Cinnamon Thumbprint Cookies that are soft and chewy, filled with spiced apple jelly and drizzled with maple icing!

Yield: 20 cookies

• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 55 mins

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour (whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour will work as well)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp (or 1/4 cup coconut oil in solid form)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp apple butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

For the maple drizzle:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp water

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil), maple syrup, apple butter and vanilla extract.  Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined and a nice dough forms.  Cover bowl and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.
4. Using a small cookie scoop, roll dough into about 20 balls.  Add egg white to a small bowl and the chopped walnuts in another small bowl, creating an assembly line with the egg wash first, then walnuts and then the cookie sheet.
5. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in the chopped walnuts, shaking off any excess.  Place the ball on the cookie sheet and repeat this process for all the cookies.
6. Using a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon or your finger, make a well in the center of each cookie by lightly pressing down.  Then use that 1/2 teaspoon to fill each cookie with spiced apple jelly (or jelly of your choice).
7. Place cookies in the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the edges are lightly brown.  Remove cookies from oven and let them sit on the pan for an additional 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.  The cookies will still be really soft when they come out of the oven, but that’s okay!
8. While the cookies cool you can make the maple icing.  In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of water until smooth.  Drizzle maple icing over each cookie and enjoy!

Notes

Store these cookies in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.

Nutrition Facts:

• Serving Size: 1 cookie
• Calories: 111
• Sugar: 4.8 g
• Sodium: 35.2 g
• Fat: 7.7 g
• Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
• Carbohydrates: 8.9 g
• Fiber: 1.3 g
• Protein: 2.6 g

* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.

If you make this recipe, share a photo on Instagram and tag it #EatYourselfSkinny . I love seeing what you made!

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