unpretentious baking: raspberry jam thumbprint cookies

I’ve been hearing about Gwyneth’s book on the blogosphere for a while and resisted the urge to reserve it from the library.  I thought it was another ‘celebrity-come-cookbook-writer’ trying to put themselves on the map after years of disappearing from Hollywood to raise children.

I was pleasantly surprised however. The recipes were not at all complicated nor was Gwyneth portrayed as a  glamourous celebrity mom and rock star wife.  I was drawn in by the simplicity and frankness of the cookbook. It was do-able. Not contrived nor pretentious.

Being a dessert person, I pored over the baked goods section preparing myself for what I thought would be pages of ornate cupcakes and fancy layered tortes. However, the desserts featured were simple recipes using wholesome ingredients. Delicious looking brownies made with spelt flour and jam thumbprint cookies using barley flour, no eggs, no butter, no white sugar…vegan & using healthier ingredients. A cookie you can actually have for breakfast according to Gwyneth.

Since seeking out more digestible forms of gluten is the way I’m rolling these days, these thumbprint jam cookies were at the top of my list to make. The only problem I encountered was not being able to find barley flour. No problem. I used gluten-free sorghum sweet flour and a bit of spelt, the latter of which does have gluten but it’s easier to digest.

The cookie dough was a bit on the dry side and crumbled upon pressure when I tried to make the indentation in the cookie with the back of a measuring spoon. They ended up looking rustic but still maintained their thumbprint appeal when I added spoons of raspberry jam into the little wells. Maybe more oil was needed? Or maybe the sorghum flour was more drying?

In the end the cookies came out of the oven surprisingly soft and deliciously nutty. I like that the cookies taste healthy due to the earthy sorghum flour but that they also had a little pop of sweetness imparted by the enticing jam puddle.  Yum and yum!

raspberry jam thumbprint cookies (OR “lalo’s famous cookies”)                   recipe from My Father’s Daughter ~makes approx. 40+ cookies

3 cups Bob’s Red Mill sweet sorghum flour

1 cup spelt flour

3 cups raw whole almonds, ground in food processor until finely chopped

1 tsp fine salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup canola oil

1 cup maple syrup

Your favourite jam (I used raspberry)

Directions

1)Preheat the oven to 350F.

2) Combine all the ingredients except for the jam in a large bowl. Mix together thoroughly until the cookie dough is combined.

3) Form dough into tablespoonful balls or use a small ice cream scoop and space them evenly on a cookie sheet liked with parchment paper or a Silpat.

4) Using your finger or the back of a measuring spoon, make an indentation in each cookie.

5) Fill each indent with a small teaspoon of jam. Bake cookies for 20-25 minutes or until cookies are browned. Allow to cool before eating.

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