It’s beginning to look decidedly like Christmas…
The tree is trimmed and our favorite carols have been playing on repeat for almost a week now.
We baked the first batch of Christmas cookies this weekend; we’re officially in the season.
Although I’m not a huge cookie person,I never pass up an opportunity to bake cookies at Christmas time.
Having cookies at my grandmother’s is enfolded in some of my happiest memories of Christmas.
I usually start out with these thumbprint cookies, they’re fun, easy to make, I think they capture the cheerfulness of the season; everyone loves them and you get to fill them with your favourite jams or preserves.
Our last thumbprint cookies were made with oat flour and a combination of ground almonds and pistachios, and they were spectacular hit.
These cashew and oat thumbprint cookies use nutty fine-textured cashew meal for buttery, melt-in-your-mouth-good cookies with a delicate crumbly texture.
[Tweet ” Deliciously festive thumbprint cookies, #vegan, #glutenfree and filled with your lovely favourite jams and preserves “]


- 2 cups ground oats (oat flour)
- 2 cups ground cashew (cashew meal/flour)
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- 1/2 cup safflower oil (or a neutral flavoured oil)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Your favorite jam or preserve
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper
- Mix oat flour, ground cashew, cardamom, cloves and salt in a large bowl with a wooden spoon
- Add safflower oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract, mix until well combined
- Form the dough into rounded tablespoon-sized balls and space them evenly on to the baking sheet
- Using your index finger or the end of a wooden spoon, make an indentation into the center of each bowl
- Fill the center of each cookie-dough with a small amount of jam or preserve
- Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until cookies are evenly browned
- Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack
- Enjoy!
- You can make oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a food processor, grinder or a powerful blender
- One cup of rolled oats will make about a cup of oat flour
- I get cashew meal from the store (Trader Joe's or some natural food store) but you can easily grind whole cashews to make flour too.

6 Comments
Whoa! I love that these are made with oat flour and cashew meal. These are awesome!! I love jam thumbprint cookies, but confess that I’ve never made them. These are saved, Elsa!
9 December, 2014 at 9:56 amYou should try them Katie, they’re awesome and ridiculously easy to make:)
9 December, 2014 at 7:45 pmThese look gorgeous! And we’re trying to eat less wheat so this is a good recipe for us.
10 December, 2014 at 7:37 amThanks Skye, you should try it 🙂
10 December, 2014 at 10:05 pmThese would be really good fun to make with my mini chefs.
11 December, 2014 at 3:03 pmOh yes! They’ll really love this and it’s so easy to make:)
14 December, 2014 at 2:37 pm