Every Sunday when I was little, my parents took us to church. After Sunday school the entire congregation would gather for conversation, juice and cookies. Without fail, all the kids would run up to the table to grab handfuls of pre-packaged, jelly-filled thumbprint cookies. But even as a kid that loved sugary sweets, the mere thought of the jelly in those cookies grossed me out. I would scrape the jelly out and throw it away because it tasted more like strawberry glue/gel than the “all natural” preserves advertised on the package.
Wanting to improve on yet another childhood memory that’s still vivid in my mind AND keep with this week’s Peanut Butter and Jelly theme, I came up with these PB&J Thumbprint Cookies. I’ve recreated many of my unhealthy childhood favorites here in the pages of weelicious, only I always try to come up with a healthy version. What strikes me is how easy it is to make healthy desserts your kids will love without sacrificing taste! Instead of the hydrogenated fats and untold amounts of sugar that comprised the cookies I ate as a kid, I added naturally sweet honey, fiber-packed oats, protein-rich peanut butter and then topped them off with fresh preserves for a tasty, real fruit touch.
My kids were so excited when I put the plate of these fresh baked cookies in front of them, but the best part for me was watching Kenya react just like his mommy used to_ by digging out the preserves first. The only difference was that he put them right into his mouth!
PB&J Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 Cup agave nectar OR 1/2 cup honey
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Cup peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 Tsp baking soda
- 1/2 Tsp kosher salt
- Jam, Jelly or Preserves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the butter and agave (or honey) in a bowl or standing mixer and beat for 1 minute.
- Add the egg, vanilla and peanut butter and beat another minute on medium speed or until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to incorporate.
- Drop 1 tbsp of the cookie dough onto a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet and using your thumb (or index finger if you prefer), make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
- Fill the indentation of each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Cool and serve.
I totally know about flieeng guilty when you bake. I always give away anything I bake except a couple of cookies or a brownie square or something little to snack on Way to go and be a little chef!
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My hubby loves PB! Gonna give these a try.
I made these yesterday morning, and they were also green inside when I gave it to my toddler in the afternoon. I also used sunflower butter. Any idea why?
I made these last night and they were delicious! I broke one in half today to give it to our toddler for a snack and the inside was GREEN! What could have happened? We don’t think it’s mold — it looks like some sort of chemical reaction where the jam sat. I followed the recipe exactly (with honey), but used sunflower butter because I have a peanut allergy. The brand of jam I used was Polaner’s all fruit (I used both strawberry and apricot jams, and both had the same reaction).