almond apricot butter cookies
January 9, 2012 Two thumbs down for waking up with a sore throat that feels like I’ve swallowed a ball of sandpaper.
But.
Three thumbs UP for the cookies below.
And.
Four thumbs up for Japanese sencha green tea + a spoonful of raw honey. My throat is already 100x better.
So, the cookies…
First.
They are grain free!
Second.
They are sugar free!
Third.
Apricots are included.
Recently, Gena posted a how-to on making date paste, which can be used as a natural sweetener. Since apricots and dates have a similar texture and it’s National Apricot Day, I wanted to try out this dried fruit paste method with apricots. This is such a great alternative to sugar. It’s intensely sweet and loaded with fiber + nutrients.
It would definitely take some experimenting to figure out how to substitute this in for liquid sweeteners [like maple syrup and honey], but I think it can be done! Gena wrote a follow up post the following day, loaded with information on date paste. Definitely worth checking out!
Apricot Paste [adapted from Gena’s date paste]
- 1c apricots [unsulphured]
- 3/4c boiling water
- Heat 3/4c water until boiling.
- Pour into a bowl over the apricots, trying to make sure they’re all covered.
- Let sit for 1 hour, on the counter, stirring once 1/2 way through.
- Blend in a high powered blender, until desired consistency is met. If needed, add more water to thin out.
- Store in a sealed container, in the fridge, for up to a week [per Gena’s suggestion].
*I’m not sure how well a food processor will work for this task. I wanted some texture to the paste, so I stopped blending before 100% smooth.
Next up, let’s talk about the almond flour.
Almond meal + almond flour are two different things.
almond meal = ground, raw almonds
almond flour = ground, blanched + raw almonds [no skins!]
Almond flour has a lighter and smoother texture. I don’t think the two can be subbed 1:1 as they will have a different texture. Instead of buying blanched almond flour, which is pricey, I made my own at home.
Blanched Almond Flour
- blanched, raw almonds
- In a food processor or blender, blend almonds in small batches [not over 3/4c – 1c at a time] until flour like. No large pieces should be left. Be careful not to blend too long as you could end up with nut butter, or flour that has become warm + moist from the motor making it hot. I used my Vita-Mix and scraped the sides and bottom a few times to help move things along.
- Sift the flour to get rid of any clumping. You may need to use a spoon to help sift it through.
- If you’re left with any almond pieces or pieces that won’t sift through, add those to the blender again until flour like.
Sifting is important!
Before:
After:
I haven’t done much gluten free cookie experimenting at all. It scares me!! The only “cookies” I’ve made so far, are mandel bread + oatmeal trail mix cookies. And I don’t really consider those true cookies.
These however, are.
Melt in your mouth.
Hint of lemon.
And a dollop of apricot sweetness.
What’s great about these cookies are that you can eat them as an indulgent treat, as part of breakfast, or pop two in your mouth before or after a hard workout. They’re loaded with healthy fats, protein + fiber, but you would never know it.
Almond Apricot Butter Cookies [adapted from Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies] yields 18 gluten free + grain free cookies
To me, this type of buttery rich cookie needs no added sugar in the actual cookie. The spoonful of apricot sweetness on top does the trick! I made two versions, one with more coconut oil + almond butter, but the version below was the best.
- 1 1/2c + 2T blanched almond flour, sifted
- 2T coconut oil
- 2T creamy almond butter
- 1 large egg
- 4-6T apricot paste
- 1T lemon zest
- 2t vanilla extract
- 1/4t salt
- Preheat your oven to 350* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Melt coconut oil on the stovetop or in the microwave and pour into a mixing bowl.
- Whisk together the coconut oil and almond butter until smooth.
- Whisk in the egg, lemon zest, vanilla extract + salt.
- With a spoon, stir in the almond flour, until a thick dough has formed. If the batter seems too oily and wet, add 1T more flour at a time. The dough should be fairly stiff.
- Measure tablespoon sized cookies and place one the cookie sheet 2” apart.
- Press into the middle of each cookie, gently, with your thumb.
- Add about 3/4t – 1t apricot paste on top of each indentation.
- Bake 10-14 minutes until light golden brown.
- Let cool for at least 10min, then transfer to a cooling rack.
tips/substitutions: If you don’t make apricot paste, feel free to use any no-sugar-added jelly or jam. If you want the almond flavor kicked up, add 1/4t almond extract. Almond meal may work.
Time for tea + honey round 2!
Ashley
almond flour, almonds, apricots in gluten free, grain free, healthy treats 
Reader Comments (78)
i'm drooling. yum. almond flour is the ____ ;)
These are beautiful! I have a recipe that uses macadamia nuts ground into butter, but they get SO expensive. These sound like such a nice alternative!
These look perfect. I love apricots. One of those most under-loved foods, I think...they are so sweet and love them fresh, dried, in jam or in...cookies!
These look AMAZING. If I'm being lazy, could I use 100% fruit preserves instead of the apricot paste? Because I'm gonna. ;)
What a coincidence! Today is National Apricot Day! How appropriate.
Precisely why I made them! :)
Read the tips/substitutions.... hehehe
Holy tamoly, these look so good. But sifting almond flour is the bane of my life (I make a lot of macarons). Definitely worth it for these, though; I love apricots!
Ashley!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! these are incredible!!!!!! and edible :) how wonderful....you should call yourself the incredible edible perspective! My Grandpa died yesterday and my Aunt, with whom I live, flew at 4 am to Angola, Africa to be there for the funeral but I had to be at work :( fortunately, I was able to write something for them to read at the funeral, although the Reverend Franklin Graham (Billy Graham's son) and Donald Miller wrote words about Grandpa so I'm not sure mine will be read, pah. anywayyyyyyyyyyyyys Grandpa loved butter tarts - have you heard of those?! and I mentioned raspberry thumbprints, too! how cool that you just made thumbprints...silly, I know...but I appreciate you! anyways! love it ashley - jasper!
These look absolutely AMAZING! Definitely going on the "to bake" list for this coming week. I especially love that you suggest they would be good for breakfast or after a workout. Cannot wait to try these.
Ummm these look AMAZING Ashley! I love the natural sweetness in there, which is probably extra tasty since apricots rock. Nice work!
Anything that looks like a thumbprint cookie has my attention. There's nothing better than that bite of fruit right in the middle of the cookie!
mmm buttery, love the description. I've never heard of making a date or apricot paste but it sounds really easy and delicious. I do most of my baking grain and sugar free too so these are right up my alley.
OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! YUM.
Yum! These look delicious! And I had no idea you could make a paste to use as sweetener out of dried fruit. Who knew?!
I adore these already...they look amazing!
Yummy! Love dried apricots! ANd for your throat situation...try a little pinch of cayenne pepper in your tea. Its crazy but it works almost instantly!
Happy (belated) National Apricot Day indeed ;)
Oh my goodness, these sound heavenly! The combination of almonds and apricots... does it get better than that? And who knew it was national apricot day? I wish I had been better prepared. Please let me know in advance when it's National Peanut Butter Day. I plan to celebrate that one as if it's Christmas.
Thanks for the great recipe Ashley! You never seem to run out of awesome ideas.
this is a sweet recipe! So creative! :D
gluten, grain and sugar free? you're speaking my language! thanks for the recipe, i already have a homemade "apricot butter" in the fridge.
you had me at butter cookie! these look so good :)
These are awesome! I am definately going to try to make the apricot paste, or the date paste! But I bet these cookies would also be awesome with fig jam plopped right in the middle :) [don't you love the word plopped?!]
Everything looks INCREIDBLE as usual. About how much apricot paste does the recipe make? Thanks!
Love how you can make the paste out of almost any dried druit including mango :P
Whoops I meant dried fruit :P
your pictures are beautiful! I also love to bake with dried fruit, my grandma makes dried apricots, tons of them and I just keep adding them to simple recipes, your cookies look delicious
Your cookies look incredible! The apricot and almond combination sounds delicious, and I love that they're sweetened only with fruit. These will be made very soon!
Oh wow, these are genius! I can't wait to try some... They are on my list!
Those cookies look yummy and easy to make -> 2 thumps up!
I have to try these date an apricot pastes ASAP.
Apricots...mmm. Love how rustic they look too :)
Wow, how creative..these cookies look awesome...I have some apricots I need to use too! :)
Love these! They look so delicious! :)
ok the rule of 3 just applied to me---i just bought almond meal yesterday, made almond meal based brownies, and now i just got your blog post about these almond meal based cookies...i just flagged this recipe to make--for our next breakfast!!...love finding wholesome nutritious baked treats for breakfast : )
Dang it! I saw apricots on sale in the bulk bins yesterday and I didn't buy them! These look ahhmazing.
I adore almond flour, thanks for reminding me to pick up more. And the cookies look amazing, yum!
These look great. I love that the apricot filling doesn't have extra sugar.
Apricots are highly underrated! This makes me want to buy some and put my food dehydrator to work!
This is kind of unrelated- but I accidentally ground up walnuts into a powder (or meal) when trying to chop them and have had the remains sitting in a container in my fridge. Any ideas on how to use that up? Is that the same thing as "walnut flour?" I guess I could make Larabars with them...
As soon as I saw the apricot paste, I thought "This would be a good use for that leftover chocolate date paste I made using Gena's recipe!" I wanted to comment to say that you can make the paste just fine using a food processor.
I have a batch in the oven as I type this! I can't wait!
Hope you loved them!
Ohhh my gosh...chocolate date paste!!!
Also, good to know about the food processor. Thanks!
I haven't tried using it as a flour before, but think it would be pretty similar. It might be a little oilier or crumble more, since it is a softer nut. If you do any experimenting, let me know what you find!
You can sub any jell/jam/preserves. :)
Perfect!! Hope you like them!! And, I just tried making them with almond meal and they worked. Definitely only needed to be cooked for 10min as the meal dried them out a bit more and the texture was obviously a bit mealier, since almond meal includes the skins. Still super delicious though! Almond meal brownies sound amazing!
Yes, so easy!! I whipped up a batch after dinner last night when we had some friends over!
Oooh, mango paste sounds amazing!
Somewhere around a cup.
Oh yes, they would be delicious with fig jam!! Plopped is a great word. ;)