Almond Flour Thumbprint Cookies

2 cups almond meal/flour *see tip below

¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup coconut oil *see tip below

2 tablespoons mild honey

2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

24 – 26 semi-sweet chocolate chunks, optional *see tip below

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine almond meal/flour, salt and baking soda in a food processor. Pulse 2 or 3 times.

Or, combine the same ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together.

Add coconut oil, honey, vanilla, and almond extract to the work bowl. Pulse until dough is formed. Or mix with a spoon and some muscle in your mixing bowl. When you pinch some dough between fingers, it should hold together just like any other cookie dough.

Form dough into balls, using about 2 teaspoons per cookie (I use a #100 portion scooper). Arrange on baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Top of cookies will just begin to turn golden brown and bottoms of cookies will be golden. Slide cookies on parchment onto countertop. If you want to fill them with frosting, use your thumb to push an indentation into the center of each hot cookie. If you like chocolate, push a chocolate chunk into the center of each cookie. Allow to cool completely before transferring to a tin or covered container to store. Makes 24 cookies.

Sue’s tips

Almond meal is just ground almonds. I use Bob’s Red Mill almond meal/flour. It’s available in most grocery stores and food co-ops.

Yes, you can use butter in these cookies if you don’t need them to be dairy-free.

Use any premium chocolate to push into these cookies. I use dairy-free Enjoy Life semisweet mega chunks.