An easy recipe for buttery, chewy cookies filled with fresh fruit jam. They’re perfect for the holidays, and with just 45 calories, they never last long!
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Welcome to Day #3 of Cookie Week on Amy’s Healthy Baking! This week, I’m posting a few new cookie recipes on my blog that would be perfect for the holidays, and I’m also sharing some of my old favorites on both Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to check those out—other readers have been raving about them!
Every holiday season, I spend at least three times as long wandering the aisles of Target compared to any other month of the year. I normally dawdle more in that store than any supermarket, and I almost always walk out with 27 extra items not on my original list (but these candles smelled so good! and who can resist coffee that tastes like chocolate truffles??), but…
December is much harder on my self-control!
That’s all thanks to their Christmas displays, complete with a plethora of decorations like artificial trees, twinkling multi-colored lights, cute ornaments (as a baker, I love these!), festive reindeer, gold gift bows, enough wrapping paper options to make my indecisive head spin…
And then comes the candy. Shelves lined with both inexpensive stocking stuffers and gourmet chocolate gift options alike always tempt my wallet! Especially when it comes to dark chocolate peppermint bark… And truffles… And turtles… And Ferrero Rocher boxes… And who knew there were gingerbread, white peppermint, hot chocolate, and café mocha M&Ms??
But my biggest weakness—yes, more than any type of chocolate!—has always been the Milano cookies. Even though stores sell them all year round, my family generally bought them only around Christmastime, and I always looked forward to the classic dark chocolate mint cookies. Well, until I discovered the candy cane milanos last year… They’re my kryptonite and I could easily polish off an entire package in a day!
I also remember staring at the fruit-filled cookies sold by the same company sitting next to the milanos on the shelves during my childhood, and occasionally, I asked my mom if we could try the buttery jam-filled treats, too. She only agreed once or twice, and although I eagerly tore open the package at home, I was slightly disappointed at how crunchy the cookie parts were. I wanted them to be soft and chewy!
These Cranberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies are what I thought would be inside of those packages! Soft, buttery, bite-sized cookies with a fresh fruit filling in the center… And perfectly festive for the holidays. There’s a reason these cookies always disappear in the blink of an eye!
To make these easy cookies, you’ll start with whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is ground more finely than regular whole wheat flour, so it has a lighter texture that’s perfect for chewy cookies. Its flavor is lighter than regular whole wheat flour as well, so you can’t really tell that these cookies are 100% whole wheat!
Note: White whole wheat flour would be a good substitute, and my preferred gluten-free flour blend is included in the Notes section beneath the recipe as well.
This healthier recipe only requires 2 tablespoons of butter. That’s 75% less than traditional recipes! However, they’re still just as buttery and chewy as your grandma’s cookies you remember from your childhood. I have a secret trick that makes these cookies so rich and buttery…
Extra vanilla extract! Vanilla enhances butter’s flavor, so adding more vanilla than traditional recipes call for accentuates butter’s rich taste. I always use that trick in my perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, and nobody can guess they’re lightened up!
These cookies are sweetened with coconut sugar to keep them clean eating friendly. No, coconut sugar doesn’t actually taste like coconut! It has a similar flavor to brown sugar, with subtle caramel undertones, but it pours like granulated sugar. You can find it on the baking aisle of most grocery stores near the other sweeteners, as well as online.
After rolling the cookie dough into balls and pressing your thumb into the center, you’ll fill each indentation with this super easy 10 minute cranberry jam. I like to spoon in as much jam as I can—it’s my favorite part! The cookies also spread while baking, so extra jam means there will be more fruit covering the center of the cookie.
I’m pretty sure Santa is going to be looking forward to these this year!
Cranberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies
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These chewy cookies are absolutely irresistible! The sweet, slightly tangy filling pairs perfectly with the buttery cookie dough. Leftover cookies will stay fresh for at least 4 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator—if they last that long!
Yields: 24 cookies
1 cup (120g) whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
¾ tsp cornstarch
¾ tsp baking powder
⅛ tsp salt
2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg white, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp nonfat milk
½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
3-4 tbsp 10 minute cranberry jam
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg white, vanilla, and milk. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Roll the cookie dough into 24 small spheres, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (If it’s still sticky, use a spoon and spatula to drop the cookie dough into 24 rounded scoops instead.) Using your index finger or thumb, make an indentation in the center of each, and fill with the cranberry jam. Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes: For the gluten-free flour, use as follows: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour, and ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum.
White whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat pastry flour.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
Brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar. However, the cookies would no longer be clean eating friendly.
Any jam may be substituted in place of the 10 minute cranberry jam.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
3.2.2925
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