Buttery Gluten-Free Cherry Pie Cookies
yields: 20 -22 cookies
These festive gluten-free cherry pie cookies are like a tender, melt-in-your mouth thumbprint cookie with cherry pie filling! Made with almond flour, these have the perfect bite. And they're beautiful!
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (140 g) Bob's Red Mill super-fine blanched almond flour
- 1 cup (112 g) Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (78 g) granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup more for rolling
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 21- ounce can cherry pie filling
Optional homemade cherry pie filling
- 1½ lbs fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water, 2 tablespoons reserved
- 1½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- If making homemade cherry pie filling, prepare that first. If using canned cherry pie filling, skip to Step 2. To make the homemade filling, combine the cherries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan (reserving 2 tablespoons of water). Bring to a boil and cook, stirring regularly, for 5-6 minutes, until the cherries begin to soften, but are still whole. Mix the remaining water with the corn starch to make a slurry. While mixing, pour the corn starch slurry into the cooking cherries and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Transfer to a bowl and chill completely before using on the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place ¼ cup sugar in a small bowl for rolling and set aside.
- Sift together almond flour, tapioca flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix to combine.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter and mix until well combined. Mix for 30 seconds longer to moisten the dough until very pliable.
- Working one at a time, roll 1-1½ tablespoons (~20g) of dough into a tight 1-inch circle, smoothing any cracks (the tighter you roll the dough, the less likely it is to crack). Gently flatten into a disc and toss the disc in the bowl of sugar to coat. Place 1-inch apart on the baking sheet and carefully and slowly use your thumb or the back of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon to make a deep indent, smoothing any cracks if desired. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Fill each cavity with 2-3 cherries with a bit of its thick syrup. Overfill the cavities, stacking cherries if needed, to ensure they're filled to the brim even after baking.
- You can chill or freeze the cookies on the baking sheet or bake it immediately. Bake for 14-15 minutes (adding 1-2 minutes if baking from frozen), until the cookies are set and the bottoms are just barely golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
How to Store:
These cherry pie thumbprint cookies do not need to be refrigerated. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. Despite the moisture from the cherry pie filling, these cookies will last for up to a week without compromising texture too much.
You can also freeze these thumbprint cookies, either before or after baking. Either way, freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet for a couple of hours. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or container to store for longer.
