Aunt Rocky’s Chocolate Drop Thumb Print Cookies (Gluten Free, Low Carb)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking sheet, set aside. Measure out the cream (for the chocolate drop) into a small bowl and set aside to come to room temperature.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, and glucomannan together to break up any lumps in the almond flour. Add melted butter and extracts to the almond flour mixture, and stir until well blended and a thick dough forms. It may be crumbly, but if it holds together when you press—that’s what you need.

Drop by well-packed 1-tablespoon cookie scoop onto lined baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Press each cookie to flatten the top. Use your thumb, a knuckle, or a round 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to make an indentation in the top of each cookie, being careful not to press all the way down. This is the well where the chocolate will be dropped after the cookie cools.

Bake on center rack for 10–12 minutes, until cookies become a golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven, and let cookies rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to set up. If the indentations have puffed up, touch them up with a knuckle or the measuring spoon. Move to cooling rack to completely cool. Cookies will firm up and become crisp when completely cooled.

After cookies are cooled, prepare the chocolate drop center. Melt chocolate in the microwave, about 1 minute. Add sweetener and stir until smooth. Add warm cream and stir again. If the chocolate seems too stiff to drop a small amount onto each cookie, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of very hot water, as needed. You don’t want it to be runny, just smooth and creamy enough to work with.

Drop about 1/2 teaspoon of the chocolate into the well of each cookie. (I use a demitasse spoon for this step.) Transfer cookies to refrigerator to help the chocolate set and solidify.

Bring the cookies back to room temperature to serve. Store in airtight container.

Notes:
• Do not use cream straight out of the refrigerator. It will make your chocolate seize up and become too stiff to drop. If that happens, return it to the microwave for about 10 seconds and stir again, or add a teaspoon of hot water to smooth it out.
• The glucomannan (or xanthan gum) is included to help the cookie not crumble so easily. If you don’t have either, omit.
• Nutrition estimates are based on My Fitness Pal’s online recipe analyzer. Brand names are included only to assure more accurate estimates. The recipe is stored on and available to MFP users for logging in their food diaries. Sugar alcohols, allulose, and liquid sucralose are not absorbed by the body and rate zero on the glycemic index, so are excluded from nutrition counts.
• For more Atkins/low carb/Keto recipes and cooking tips, look for Aunt Rocky’s Low Carb Recipes & Tips Group on Facebook, or follow me on Pinterest at auntrocky2.

Each cookie: Calories 81, Total Fat 8 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Sodium 23 mg, Potassium 1 mg, Total Carbohydrate 2 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g , Net Carbs 1 g, Sugars 0 g, Protein 2 g. Macros: 84% fat, 9% protein, 7% carbs.

© December 22, 2016 Roxana Lopez for Aunt Rocky’s.