Peeps, these are gluten and dairy free thumbprints for those of you that like chewy, salty peanut butter cookies, PB&J sandwiches, and eating sweets without a speck of pesky old gluten. Now personally, well, I’m awfully fond of gluten (a controversial stance, I know), but loads of people aren’t, and I’m trying to be more accommodating/gluten-free friendly.
In fact, it’s likely I would not even be blogging about this cookie sans-flour, save for the fact that my copy of A New Way to Bake from the Kitchens (aka the editors) of Martha Stewart arrived in the mail last week, and the recipe for cashew butter and jam thumbprints got me kind of excited. So, yes, I’m at it again: sharing a recipe here that isn’t exactly “original.” 
I did tweak it a bit, adding an extra yolk (for rich flavor and texture), extra salt (cuz I’m a salt-aholic), substituting light brown sugar for some of the granulated (I love the molasses-y flavor of brown sugar combined with peanut butter), and I finished these cookies with a sprinkling of coarse sugar and flaky sea salt (for sparkle, crunch and cuz … salt-aholic). 
But truly the recipe is only slightly adapted from A New Way to Bake. I love all of the baking books that come out of Martha’s “kitchens” and this one is no exception. The book “ushers the baking pantry beyond white flour and sugar to include natural sweeteners, whole-grain flours … and other better-for-you … ingredients.” As stated above, although I’m pretty happy with my pantry as-is (just being honest, here), I totes get that there is a movement afoot and am happy to join in with this book as my trusty guide.
Gluten/Dairy-free Peanut Butter Thumbprints with Strawberry Jam, Slightly Adapted from Martha Stewart's "A New Way to Bake"
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened/unsalted peanut butter or any nut butter of your choosing
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Flaky sea salt and coarse sugar for sprinkling
- About 1/2 to 1 cup jam or jelly flavor of your choosing for filling the cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients, save for the jam/jelly. Once mostly combined, switch to a rubber spatula and fold the ingredients together until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill, about an hour.
- Using a two teaspoon ice cream scoop, or measuring spoons, portion the dough out and roll it into balls with your hands. Place 12 balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle the balls with the flaky sea salt and coarse sugar. Return the remaining balls to the fridge.
- Bake for ten minutes, rotating the pan at the halfway point. The cookies are ready when lightly browned, a bit crackly, and fragrant. Once the sheet is removed from the oven, immediately press the center of each cookie with a 1/2 tsp measuring spoon, to make an indentation. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.
- Once cooled, fill the indentations with the jam/jelly.
Notes
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