This recipe for Clean Eating Thumbprint Cookies is one of the many wonderful cookies I baked with the family I stayed with in Germany when I was 18.
If you’ve never been to Germany, I can tell you that these people take their Christmas baking VERY seriously. It’s an entire production that can last for days on end.
And the worst part? They didn’t even splurge on a few cookies while they were baking them. Every last cookie got packed away for the pending holiday.
As an 18-year-old experiencing an explosion of fabulously foreign flavors in a new country, I can tell you that this was most distressing. I mean, who bakes all those cookies and then doesn’t even eat ONE stinkin’ sample cookie??!!
I can tell you I entered a few choice words in my journal that night. But outside of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the process… and in the end… the cookies!
While these are not low-fat or low-calorie, they certainly fall within the parameters of healthier eating simply because they don’t have all the white junk in them that you find in almost all baked goods these days. I mean, have you tried buying a whole wheat cookie lately? Not so easy to find, and if you do, they taste more like cardboard than like a cookie. And since these are a once-in-a-while treat, I feel pretty comfortable posting this recipe here. I mean, if you can’t enjoy a good cookie around the holidays, when can you enjoy one?
Note: The cookies I learned to make in Germany (with the exception of one recipe) all include butter. These are the only recipes on my blog that use butter. I avoid it at all other times during the year, but do allow it in small amounts during the holiday season. It’s a personal choice.
(Makes approximately 36 cookies)
Recipe updated 12/21/10
160 g non-hydrogenated butter (such as Earth Balance)
100 g honey or agave (1/3 cup)
2 egg yolks (reserve egg whites for later)
1 tsp. vanilla
350 g whole wheat flour (2 cups + 1 Tbsp.)
40 g grated hazelnuts (1/3 cup whole nuts – But I used 3/4 cup and had just enough)
Jam (I used persimmon jam, but any jam you like will work)
Directions
Step 1 – Beat together your butter, honey, egg yolks, and vanilla till creamy.
Step 2 – Fold flour under.
Step 3 – Allow to chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.
Step 4 – Roll a 1/2 walnut sized portion of dough into a ball. Form thumbprint area in the middle.
Step 5 – Roll in egg whites, then in hazelnuts.
Step 6 – Fill with jam and bake at 325 degrees F. for approximately 20 minutes.
Eat and Enjoy!
Nutritional Content
1 serving = 1 cookies
(The data provided does not include the jam)
Calories: 86
Total Fat: 6 gm
Saturated Fats: 1 gm
Trans Fats: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 16 gm
Sodium: 5 mg
Carbohydrates: 8 gm
Dietary fiber: 1 gm
Sugars: 2 gm
Protein: 2 gm
Estimated Glycemic Load: 4
Nutritional Information estimated at Nutritiondata.com. Data may not be accurate.
Munchkin Helpers:
If you have little ones, here’s how they can help (With close supervision, of course).
Don’t underestimate the power of baking with your kids. While we can’t allow them to eat a ton of cookies, the time spent together in the kitchen is truly a bonding experience at it’s best. Kids of all ages can help with cookie baking.
Have them add the ingredients to the mixing bowl, stir, knead, roll and fill these cookies. Whatever their capabilities are, be sure to involve them. They will never forget it, and neither will you.
Caution: Any time a child is in the kitchen, they will require close supervision. Munchkin Helpers suggestions should be applied with common sense to your own child, taking their own capabilities into account. Do not assume that because it says here that your child can do something, that they can, in fact do it. Please use common sense when in the kitchen with your child(ren).
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