Tender almond flour shortbread cookies filled with sugar-free raspberry chia seed jam. A great low carb treat worthy of a surprise 40th birthday party.
I’ve always loved making treats for friends’ birthdays. Ever since I began to bake and cook, I would scheme in advance, thinking of some delicious goodies to celebrate a friend’s natal days. But let’s face it, it’s really just an excuse to get into the kitchen and get my hands dirty. I love my friends, of course, and delight in surprising them with tasty treats, but my motives are not always pure. Because I get great enjoyment out of the creation of said treats and usually I get to partake in the final product as well. So yes, shamefully I admit it. I selfishly make cakes and cookies for my friends. What a terrible friend I am!
And as if you didn’t think badly enough of me already, I have to unburden my soul and confess just how awful I am. Because these delightful little bites of gluten-free shortbread heaven are as selfishly motivated as any birthday creations. Perhaps more so. They are in honour of Regan Jones on her 40th birthday, as part of a virtual surprise birthday party. Surprise, Regan! I made you cookies! But you live in Georgia and I live in Oregon so you can’t eat them. Guess I will just have to eat them all myself.
See what I mean? So selfish!
But I do love Regan and I am delighted to take part in her virtual birthday party. And I really wish I could share these cookies with her; I know she’d love them. Regan and I have gotten to know each other through the folks at Cabot, and she’s a dear. She also happens to be the brainchild behind Healthy Aperture, a photo and recipe sharing site for healthy food bloggers, and one of the masterminds behind Recipe Redux. When you meet Regan in person, you can’t help but love her. She’s direct and straightforward, with a great sense of humour and she has a smile for everyone. She also loves a good cocktail and has a healthy sweet tooth, but prefers her treats to be sugar and gluten-free. So the theme of her surprise party is cocktails and gluten-free desserts. Now that’s my kind of party!
Happy birthday, my friend. Welcome to your 40s! It’s good on this side of that great divide. And I really do wish you could taste these cookies. They are delicious – and I am not so selfish that I didn’t share a few with my kids in your honour. They were a huge hit!
Be sure to check out all the other delicious cocktails and treats made by Regan’s loving friends in the links below.
Tender almond flour shortbread cookies filled with sugar-free raspberry chia seed jam. A great low carb treat for a special event, or any day!
- 1 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s Swerve Sweetener
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 cup Raspberry Chia Seed Jam
- 3 tbsp confectioner’s Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 to 2 tbsp water
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Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, coconut flour and baking powder.
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In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until well combined and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and almond extract. Beat in almond flour mixture until well incorporated.
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Form dough into scant 1 inch balls and place two inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Press each ball down to about 1/2 inch high. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each cookie.
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Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each and bake until just barely browning around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on pan. The cookies will not seem set but will continue to firm up at they cool.
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In a small bowl, whisk together sweetener, almond extract and water until a pourable consistency is achieved. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Serves 12 (2 cookies per serving). Each serving has 4.98 g of carbs and 2.44 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 2.54 g.
Food energy: 178kcal
Saturated fatty acids: 5.69g
Total fat: 16.00g
Calories from fat: 143
Cholesterol: 35mg
Carbohydrate: 4.98g
Total dietary fiber: 2.44g
Protein: 4.16g
Sodium: 95mg
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Jen @ Baked by an Introvert says
How nice of you to make these cookies for your friends virtual party! They look amazing and I’m sure she is going to love the recipe!
Dawn says
I can not judge, I too am a selfish baker and sometimes I even make a test batch because you wouldn’t want your “friend” to be disappointed right?!?!
These look delish can’t wait to try them…any fav recipes you could recommend to use up that leftover egg white? Besides that one I’ve got a container of egg whites I bought for a recipe I have since lost track of OOPS!
Carolyn says
Hang tight! I made my husband’s birthday cake with egg whites and it should be coming out next week!
Meal Makeover Mom Janice says
These cookies are so pretty and will go on my list of new treats to make. I’ve wanted to experiment more with almond flour. Do you make your own or buy it already ground? I think Trader Joe’s sells almond flour, right?
Regan @ The Healthy Aperture Blog says
Carolyn, I’m humbled. Seriously. Thank you and everyone who is throwing me this party today. I had no clue, and I couldn’t be more touched!! It’s been my honor to get to know you, learn from you and all your sugar-free brilliance. My holidays were even tastier this year thanks to many of your creations 🙂 Thank you!!
Carolyn says
Happy birthday, my friend!
Margeaux Vittoria says
I’m enjoying checking out the Healthy Aperture and Recipe Redux links! Thanks 🙂
diane says
I want one right now; your photos, Carolyn, are gorgeous!!!!
Katie says
These cookies were so good! I didn’t make the glaze…but we still loved them. Thanks
Carolyn says
How would you recomend storing these cookies? They became quite soft in a ziplock bag.
Carolyn says
Covered container.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
Thumbprint cookies are just always so delicious! I love that you made these a lightened up version.. a recipe I have to try!
Claudia @ HomeMade with love says
wow these cookies look so wonderful.. I am imagining them on an etagere for my next coffee table. Lovely!
Heather R says
I’m not sure if I messed up something in the recipe but these did not really hold together as I had hoped. The dough was very gooey, maybe I should have added more almond flour. The cookies expanded and rose a lot and then once cool the jam fell out of the middle of some of them. Still Amazing flavor, love almond and raspberry together (I cheated and just used raspberry jelly) and will make again, just not sure about the consistency. also had to cook quite a bit longer than recommended time, more like 20 minutes, but I am high altitude (Denver).
Carolyn says
Hmmm, I guess it could be the altitude. Also, tell me what brands of almond flour and sweetener you used? If you do make them again, try adding a tbsp or two of coconut flour. That’s better than almond, in this case, it helps stiffen the dough.
Heather R says
I used Anthony’s almond flour and regular confectioners sugar, I didn’t have the swerve one. Next time I will add a dash of coconut flour! Still delish none the less!
Carolyn says
Okay, could be the real sugar, because it is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts moisture, whereas erythritol (Swerve) is non-hygroscopic. That would have a significant impact on your dough!
Vanessa says
I made these cookies – my husband loves them so much, I’m making a double batch today! And all my non-low carb friends loved it, too. 😛 I cheated and used sugar free raspberry jam (I am lazy) and it was just fabulous. Thank you for this recipe. Making the low carb lifestyle change is easy with recipes like this in your arsenal.
Olivia says
Mmmmmmm, like! like! like! Very Very nice!!
Lisa says
I made these this past week without the glaze. It’s the rainy season right now, and they were pretty soft after just a couple of days even in an airtight container, so I decided to ‘dehydrate’ them. I put them on a cooling rack as my pan in the oven at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes. They came out crunchy like a store bought cookie, which I really liked. And the filling (I made the chia jam) was almost candied. Yum!
Sara says
I decided to make these as part of my holiday baking this year because the regular version used to be my favorite. These absolutely did not disappoint! They have amazing flavor just like the original. Nobody could tell they were low carb and gluten free. Thanks for a great recipe!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it, Sarah!
Brenda says
Before diabetes, baking a variety of thumbprints was one of my favorites at Christmas. With all the different jams, jellies and Hershey’s kisses, they made a beautiful cookie platter.
I made a double recipe of your thumbprints today using Smucker’s Sugar Free Apricot, Sugar Free Strawberry and Lilly’s sugar free chocolate chips – and they are wonderful – I’m back in business!
FYI – I put the chocolate chips in the depression as soon as they came out of the oven, rather than baking with the chips in place. It takes a while for them to cool, but worth it.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Carolyn says
Sounds wonderful!
Carolyn says
I was looking for a cream cheese cookie made with almond meal instead of Carbquik. I just subbed out the 1/2 cup of butter for 4 ounces of cream cheese. Did the whole thing in the food processor. yummm
Hayley says
Carolyn, these were amazing! I made them this afternoon and my best friend and I just loved them. Brought the batch home to my husband, who was almost surprised by how delicious they are. This is the first dessert I’ve made since we’ve started keto/low-carb that he’s really enjoyed 🙂 Can’t wait to experiment with other kinds of jams!
Donna says
Does the sugar have to be confectioners or would a stevia granulated sugar work? Thats what I have on hand. Cant wait to make these!
Carolyn says
The texture is a little better when powdered but it might work okay.
Christin says
I thought the Butter Pecan Cookies were the best cookie I ever made …… now I have 2 ‘best’ cookies? Seriously, these are amazing too! I even made the jam, which I used blueberries. So easy!
Lulu says
These were delicate and wonderful! So far I’ve not been a big fan of low carb cookies but these are keepers. l love amoretto so I increased the extract to 3/4 tsp, used NSA ED Smith raspberry jam and split the sweetener to half erythritol and half Splenda (my erythritol has a serious mint effect).
I’m already wondering about lemon extract with lemon curd!
Thanks.
Dee Gee says
Thanks again. Tasted great! Made with your sf cranberry sauce and orange extract instead of almond. YUM!