This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
These soft and chewy gluten-free lemon thumbprint cookies are sure to perk up your day!
I’m so over winter come December 26th. It’s dark and gloomy and once the glow of Christmas is over and done with, I need something to brighten my mood. Bright and cheery lemon goodies always do the trick!
These cookies are great on their own but the lemon curd sends them over the top. There’s lemon extract and zest in the cookie dough but the real lemony kick comes from the puckery lemon curd.
In some of the cookies, I used this homemade lemon curd and in a few I used store bought lemon curd that was more translucent and jam-like looking. Both were delicious so feel free to use either one! Jam would also work well here, but make sure to use jam and not jelly, which isn’t nearly as thick. I’m thinking that raspberry jam would be amazing!
I’m pretty excited to play around with the zest and extracts in this recipe. Lime zest, lime curd and coconut extract are sounding pretty good right now. Hand me a tropical drink and I’ll be set! Or if you want something more typically wintry – orange zest, extract and curd.
I used a combination of almond and coconut flours to create a soft and chewy texture that rivals any all-purpose flour cookie. If you only have almond meal on hand, you can use that, but your cookies will have little brown flecks of almond skin. And as always with coconut flour, there’s no substitute. If you eat gluten-free, you should definitely pick some up to try it out – and to make these cookies! You won’t regret it.
If these cookies aren’t enough to convince you to buy coconut flour, how about Jamie’s lemon cheesecakes in a jar? They look absolutely glorious and can also be made gluten-free if you use gluten-free graham crackers.
So what are you doing to combat the post-Christmas winter blues? I’d love to know!
Gluten-Free Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ⅓ cup lemon curd*
- powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- 1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- 2. In another medium mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter, egg, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
- 3. Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir just until combined. The dough will feel quite wet. Let it sit for 10 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquid while the oven preheats.
- 4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- 5. Roll the dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheet. The dough will feel quite greasy.
- 6. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes and remove from the oven.
- 7. Using the rounded part of a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, make an indentation about 3/4 of the way down into each cookie.
- Fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon of lemon curd. Be sure not to overfill them.
- 8. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes or until the cookies feel like they have a firm outer layer. The cookies shouldn't brown around the edges - just on the bottom.
- 9. Let the cookies, which will be very soft at this point, cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. The parchment paper may be a little greasy, but the cookies will not be.
- 10.Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.
These were wonderful and tender – I used raspberry jam! Thank you for the recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies, Julia! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Made these today. My kids say they are the ‘Best cookies ever’! Great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies, Autumn! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Is it possible to not use the coconut flour (meaning I would just use 2 1/4 cup almond flour)? I have a friend who is extremely allergic to coconut, but I’d love to be able to make these for a party.
Unfortunately, coconut flour isn’t interchangeable with any other flour as it’s so much more absorbent. So just using more almond flour won’t work. Sorry about that!
If u use a sugar substitute (is Stevia or like) would u use the same amount?
I don’t have much experience with sugar subs so I’m afraid I’m not sure. There should be a recommendation on the back of the bag on how to use it. I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
Adjusting to vanilla and then Nutella to fill
That sounds delicious! Thanks for the idea. :)I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies.
Will you please share your lemon curd recipe? I can’t seem to find it and I’ve never made curd before.
Here you go – homemade lemon curd. Enjoy! :)
How about using stevia. Have you tried it. Or Pyure which is stevia and erythritol??
I’m sorry but I haven’t tried it! I don’t have any experience with those sweeteners so I really have no idea if they’d work. If you do try them out, I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies!
Saw these on Pinterest and had to pop over to tell you how fabulous they look. What a beautiful butter cookie and GF too. Pinning it for Passover..
I hope you’ll get a chance to try out the cookies. :) Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment!
Hi Erin, Do you think these would work with coconut sugar and coconut oil (instead of regular sugar and butter?). Thanks for your great recipes! Emma
Hi there! You can use 7 tablespoons of coconut oil in place of the butter but using coconut sugar would result in a darker, caramel-ish taste that I personally don’t think would go well at all with the lemon. Thanks for your comment!
Is there anything that could be substituted for the egg? I’m allergic to eggs, among several other things, and it is next to impossible for me to find vegan, gluten free, yeast free recipes. Thanks.
I unfortunately haven’t tried an egg-free version. I have made these gluten-free lemon cookies which are egg-free, but I haven’t tried them in thumbprint format. Perhaps you could try that? And so sorry for my slow reply!