These healthy thumbprint cookies are made with whole ingredients and natural sweeteners. They’re grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, and SUPER YUMMY!
Hey gluten-free, paleo, dairy-free friends…these cookies are for you!
One of my favorite things to do in the kitchen is to take a classic and make it healthy! I have a wee obsession with almond and cashew meal and LOVE baking with it! Fun Fact- Most of the recipes in my Single Serve Dessert E-Cookbook are made with a nut flour!
How gorgeous are those pistachios?! I love pistachios…almost as much as peanut butter.
But seriously nothing can get between me and peanut butter.
UNLESS you go to Israel for 10 days and peanut butter is nowhere to be found. I was literally having withdrawals. They had tahini galore….but the peanut butter was scarce.
The icing on the cake for these cookies was the sprinkle of sea salt on the chocolate glob. HUBBA HUBBA.
PS: I used the last of my Homemade Vegan Chocolate Chips for part of these! Boom-shaka-laka.
Healthy Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups cashew meal
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, partially melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toppings
- 1/3 cup pistachio nuts, raw
- 2/3 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
- Himalayan sea salt
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place all the wet ingredients in a large bowl and mix (minus coconut oil). Then, add in dry and mix until combined. Then, add coconut oil (you add it last so that the coconut oil doesn’t harden). It should be very similar to classic cookie dough consistency. Set aside.
- Prep pistachio nuts, but finely chopping. Place into a bowl.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough. Roll into a ball. Then, roll into chopped pistachio nuts making sure 3 of the 4 sides are covered. You will have to apply slight pressure to make sure the nuts stick!
- Place cookie on baking sheet. Then, using your thumb, press in the middle of the cookie to create your thumbprint. Repeat
- Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes.
- Once the cookies come out of the oven, you may need to re-thumbprint the cookies to make sure the impression is deep enough. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- To create the chocolate center. Melt about 2/3 cups of dairy-free chocolate chips. Spoon about 2 teaspoons into the center of each cookie. Then, sprinkle on some sea salt.
- Place in freezer for about 20 minutes to let the chocolate set. EAT!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
WOOT!
Want more cookie recipes? I know you do! Here’s some of my Fit Foodie favs…
Paleo Hot Cocoa Cookies
No-Bake Gingerbread Pumpkin Snowballs
White Chocolate Protein Thumbprints
Ann says
Can you tell me how exactly you use the coconut oil? I’ve baked with it once but while mixing it kind of curdled because it was too cold?! Do you use it solid, melted, partially melted? Is there a trick? Do you use a spoon/spatula for mixing or a whisk or blender?
Lee Hersh says
Ahhhh yes! The trick! I just updated the recipe (tweaked it a bit)….so I make sure my coconut oil is partially melted and it’s always the last thing I add. It’s natural thing to do is harden again if it gets cold…and usually you are mixing it with cold ingredients like milk and eggs. I add it last (even after I’ve mixed together wet and dry ingredients) and that usually does the trick!
Ann says
Thanks a lot! I will try this. I love using nut meals too!! Your single serving cookbook is on my Christmas wish list 🙂 I don’t even know why I don’t have it already…
Lee Hersh says
Awwwwwwwe. Yah it’s a pretty awesome book especially for dessert lovers 🙂
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
I’d be okay with ALL the tahini! I really have been obsessed with it the last few months!
Lee Hersh says
I need to eat it more. It’s so tasty!
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
These cookies have ALL the yum and ALL the pretty goodness going on. AND I want to eat them ALL! Seriously love the pistachio and chocolate combo. Pinned!
Lee Hersh says
I KNOWWWW! Pistachio and pomegranate make every photo look good 😀 #itstrue
Les @ The Balanced Berry says
Ohhhhh my gosh – these look delightful. Especially the sea salt in the chocolate thumbprint 🙂
I’ve been loving using nut flours/meals for baking as well – they’re so fun! I recently made a copycat version of the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar using cashew meal that turned out awesome!
Lee Hersh says
OMG!!!! Send me the link…that sounds fab and I have a thing for copycat recipes….especially if they are made a wee bit healthier 😀
Les @ The Balanced Berry says
I was so excited they turned out so well! 🙂 http://www.thebalancedberry.com/2014/12/09/gluten-free-cranberry-bliss-bars/
Tori@Gringalicious.com says
Pistachios and chocolate were meant to go together! These are just the thing to finish of my holiday baking list!
Lee Hersh says
I couldn’t have said it better myself
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
My boyfriend would LOVE these!! He is a pistachio nut (pun intended… hehe)!
Lee Hersh says
🙂 totally hiding these on the freezer right now… Away from Blake. Mwahahaha
Lisa says
For some reason I always forget about pistachios!!! But I love them, I don’t know why that is!
And now you have me craving another treat 🙂
Thankfully with my broken ankle I have all the time in the world to cook these up:) hah
Lee Hersh says
Whomp. At least there’s a bright side for being crippled! Hope you are having a swell recovery!
Cookin Canuck says
I adore pistachios too, and these cookies are calling my name. So pretty!
Urvashee says
These cookies look so pretty. I love pistachios with chocolate!
Livi @ Eat, Pray, Work It Out says
Pistachio and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations! These look SO good!
Jessica @ A Kitchen Addiction says
I need to bake more with pistachios! These cookies look so good!
Zion Anderson says
You’ve transformed simple, quality ingredients into a work of art. They were divine! Satisfying and guilt-free. Looking forward to sharing a batch w/friends & family and will definitly double the recipe because I’ll need some all to MYSELF. Thank you FFF!
Emily @ Glitz Glam Gluten-Free says
I’ve never made anything with pistachios before but that needs to change asap because these look delicious!!
Arman @ thebigmansworld says
So guess who made your chocolate chips (although I made it into fugly chunks) and remade an old recipe? I diddd. I also ate said fugly chunks too. Nut flours are the BEST. We just got cashew meal here and it’s so good- borderline peanut flour good.
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits says
I am so in love with these cookies right now, you don’t even know! I LOVE that they are rolled in crushed pistachios! Pinned!
Lee Hersh says
Thanks for pinning love!
Rachel D says
I just made these and oh my gosh-SO delicious! I used pecans instead of pistachios and couldn’t find the flour you used so i swapped for almond meal/flour! Wow delicious! So glad I splurged and invested in some palm coconut sugar! I tagged you in my instagram post! Thanks for the recipe!
Lee Hersh says
Yay!!! Ahh I must of missed it on insta! I should say in the recipe you can use almond meal instead… Tjs was out, that’s why I used cashew
Lee Hersh says
Jk I totally commented. Too much wine last night
Jodye @ Whole Pure Recipes says
These are so adorable, and combine two of my absolute favorite flavors. Whenever I find a recipe including pistachios, I realize that I don’t eat them nearly as much as I’d like to. The colors here are fantastic, too. Looks like the perfect holiday cookie!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
It’s unbelievable how healthy and delicious these thumbprint cookies are! This is definitely a perfect recipe that I NEED to try.
Lee Hersh says
You seriously do! It’s def one of the best cookie I ever made!
Monika @ MY FOOD AND HAPPINESS says
Oh wow! First time I visit your blog and I absolutely love it. These cookies look and sound like the perfect healthy treat! Thanks for the recipe!
Lee Hersh says
Aww yay! Thanks for stopping by Monika. I hope you come back 😉