Vegan Lemon Thumbprint Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Several vegan lemon thumbprint cookies on a marble background

Vegan Lemon Thumbprint Cookies (Gluten-Free)

These Vegan Lemon Thumbprint Cookies are soft, melt-in-your-mouth "buttery", and filled with bright and tangy lemon curd. They're also gluten-free and refined sugar free too.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten-free lemon thumbprint cookies, vegan lemon cookies, vegan lemon curd cookies, vegan lemon thumbprint cookies

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Total Time 45

Servings cookies

Calories 165kcal

Author Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the cookies:

30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
9 tablespoons (9 tablespoons) maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
6 tablespoons (6 tablespoons) lemon juice
6 tablespoons (6 tablespoons) almond milk
2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) lemon zest (use unwaxed lemons)
1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
Pinch (Pinch) salt
150 g (1 ¼ cups) ground almonds (almond meal) *
150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub rice flour, or plain flour if not gluten-free)
1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)

For the lemon curd:

300 ml (1 ¼ cup) unsweetened rice milk ** (see notes)
2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) custard powder *** (or sub cornflour/cornstarch or arrowroot)
4 tablespoons (4 tablespoons) lemon juice to taste (approximately equals the juice of 1 lemon)
2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) maple syrup to taste (or sub any other sweetener)

Instructions

For the cookies:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.
Add the maple syrup, almond milk, vanilla and salt and mix well.
Measure out the ground almonds, gluten-free flour and baking powder and mix well.
Add these to the other ingredients and mix well.
If it looks too dry, add a splash more plant-based milk.
Place the dough in the fridge while you make the lemon curd filling to help it firm up.

For the lemon curd:

Measure out the rice milk in a jug or measuring container.
Pour the milk into a pan, leaving behind a few tablespoons of milk in the jug.
Heat up the milk in the pan.
Add the custard powder to the remaining milk in the jug and mix well, ensuring it has dissolved completely.
Once the milk in the pan is steaming, add approximately half of the hot milk to the bowl with the dissolved custard powder, mix well and transfer the custard powder mixture to the pan.
Mix well and keep stirring on a low heat for around 5 minutes, until thickened.
Add the lemon juice and maple syrup.
Taste and add extra lemon juice or maple syrup if desired.

To make the cookies:

Shape the cookie dough into small round, flat patties and lay them out on a baking tray lined with greased baking paper - makes 15 cookies.
Use your thumb or the back of a teaspoon to form an indent in the centre of each cookie.
Fill each indent with a heaped teaspoon of the lemon curd.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes - be careful not to over-bake!
They will be slightly soft when you remove them from the oven and will firm up as they cool down.
Taste best when fresh, but keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour.

**You can use any type of plant-based milk, though results do vary depending on which you choose: cashew, oat or coconut milk make a super thick and creamy curd, whilst almond milk will be less creamy. I like to use rice milk as it creates a just-set lemon curd-like consistency which I love.

***If you can't get hold of a shop-bought custard powder, you can replace it with the same amount cornflour (cornstarch) or arrowroot, which will result in the same texture, though the colour will be considerably less yellow. To add yellow colour, I would suggest adding a tiny pinch of saffron, which I much prefer to turmeric as it has a much milder flavour.

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