Almond Jam Thumbprints
Back in 2011 I took the WordPress Post-a-day challenge. To accomplish my goal of posting every day for a full year I developed several theme days, one of which was Recipe Friday. Since then I’ve posted a few recipes, but it’s been quite a while.
Last year I had to change my diet to a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, something I should have done a long time ago. That has required me to find or develop recipes that I like, but that my family can and will also eat. At first it was very difficult, but over the past year I’ve embraced the gluten-free, dairy-free eating habit.
I decided I wanted to share some of the recipes I’ve found, developed, or modified from one of my old recipes. To kick it off, I’m sharing a recipe I found online for Almond Horns, but that I’ve rewritten to include the important directions that the recipe I found left out and I had to figure out on my own. I’ve decided I’m entitled to take credit for this one even though I started with someone else’s recipe. These have been a big hit everywhere I’ve taken them, even with people who happily eat both gluten and dairy.
Almond Jam Thumbprints
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1 8-oz can almond paste (I use Solo brand)
1/3 cup finely ground almonds or hazelnuts
1 cup sugar
1-1 1/2 cups sliced almonds
1/3 cup jam (any flavor)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg whites to almost soft peaks. Slice almond paste into thin slices. Add almond paste, ground almonds or hazelnuts, and sugar. Beat until well blended with a hand mixer. (I suppose you could make this in a food processor, but I don’t have one so I used the awesome hand mixer my husband got me for Christmas). The dough will be sticky. Drop by teaspoonfuls into bowl of sliced almonds and coat with slices. Place cookies an inch apart on a parchment paper or Silpat lined cookie sheet and press down slightly.
Bake for 20 minutes. Then using the tip of a teaspoon, press a small depression in the middle of each cookie and fill with a dollop of jam. Continue baking for another 5–7 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. (Resist the urge to eat one before cooling because the jam will be very hot! Trust me, I’ve tried it.)
These are also delicious without the jam. Just bake for 25 minutes. I’ve also made these with melted German chocolate bakers chocolate drizzled on top.
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Linda, this is wonderful! And what an aid to others who are needing to switch over to a gluten and dairy free diet! God bless you. I love how you embraced it! Good lesson for me. 🙂