One year in high school, my good friend came over to my house to spend the 4th of July with my family. Since her parents were from New Zealand and didn’t celebrate, my friend was excited to experience a true American 4th of July—especially the fireworks!
Back then, my family always grilled chicken, burgers, and sausages for dinner, along with skewers of zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers for the sides, and we finished off the meal with homemade hand-churned ice cream using my parents’ old wooden ice cream maker. As an added sweet treat that year, my friend and I decided to bake brownies to go along with the ice cream.
Although we usually turned to boxed mixes, we thought that the special holiday warranted a batch of brownies made entirely from scratch, so we found a recipe to follow in a cookbook. However, the recipe called for melted dark chocolate, and since we didn’t have enough, we substituted with bars of 100% chocolate and a little extra sugar.
Instead of baking the batter in a pan, we opted to use muffin tins to make bite-sized treats, and we carefully dolloped the batter into each cavity. When the timer rang out, we excitedly tried our first bites…
And nearly spit them back out. Because of the bitter 100% chocolate, it tasted like we completely forgot to add any sugar at all!
We salvaged the brownie bites by topping them with lots of juicy berries and extra sweet homemade ice cream … But we definitely learned a lesson. If you don’t have all of the ingredients for made-from-scratch brownies, just stick with the ice cream and berries!
For this year’s Independence Day BBQ, I’m planning on baking another homemade bite-sized dessert. Yet with the lesson from those extremely bitter brownies in mind, I’m opting for these Healthy 4th of July Thumbprint Cookies instead! They’re much easier to make than those high school brownies, deliciously sweet thanks to both the chewy cookies and fruit jam, and only 42 calories!
So they’re bound to be a much bigger hit! ?
Let’s go over how to make these healthy 4th of July thumbprint cookies!
You’ll start with white whole wheat flour (like this!). Yes, white whole wheat flour actually exists… And it’s not just a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour!
Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They both have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture… Which lets the buttery flavor and chewy texture of these cookies truly shine!
Hint: It’s like the difference between green and red grapes! Same health benefits, just a different color and slightly different flavor!
To boost that irresistible chewy texture in these healthy thumbprint cookies, you’ll also add cornstarch (like this!) to the flour. The cornstarch does two things: (a) soaks up moisture to keep the cookies soft and (b) prevents the flour’s gluten from forming really long strands. Long gluten strands create a tough or gummy texture, so adding cornstarch prevents that and results in delicious chewy cookies!
Unlike traditional recipes that call for a stick or two of butter (aka not very low calorie at all!), these healthy thumbprint cookies only require 1 ½ tablespoons of melted butter. That’s it! And because it’s melted butter, that means you don’t need to use an electric or stand mixer to make the dough. You simply need a fork!
Then to make your healthy thumbprint cookies taste as rich and buttery as traditional ones, you’ll add a little extra vanilla extract. Vanilla enhances butter’s rich flavor, so that extra vanilla makes your cookie dough taste like it has twice the amount of butter—even though your thumbprint cookies are still low in calories!
To sweeten your healthy 4th of July thumbprint cookies, you’ll use coconut sugar (like this!). Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts. However, it doesn’t actually taste like coconuts! It has a caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, which makes these cookies taste even richer.
Tip: If you can’t find coconut sugar, brown sugar also works!
Once you’ve chilled your cookie dough and rolled it into spheres, it’s time to make a well in the center of each! Gently press your thumb, index finger, or middle finger into the center of each cookie dough ball. If the outsides crack or break apart, just gently press them back together again!
Then you’ll fill each indentation with jam. I used raspberry and blackberry jam for that red-white-and-blue effect! Aren’t they cute?? I highly recommend putting your jam in a little zip-topped baggie and cutting off one corner to fill the centers. It makes the process go so much faster…
And that means you’ll get to eat your cookies sooner! ? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your healthy thumbprint cookies!
| Healthy Thumbprint Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp (21g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg white, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons (40g) raspberry jam (see Notes)
- 2 tablespoons (40g) blackberry jam (see Notes)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg white, and vanilla. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until incorporated. Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- To prepare the filling, add each of the jams to a small bowl, and stir with a spoon until it’s smooth. (It should take a couple minutes!) Once smooth, transfer each jam into a zip-topped bag, and cut off the corner of each bag.
- Roll the cookie dough into 24 small spheres, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Using your index finger or thumb, make an indentation in the center of each, and fill with the jam. (If the dough cracks, gently pinch it back together with your fingers.) Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack. (If the cookies stick to the baking sheet, slide a knife underneath each cookie first!)
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
It’s important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much flour will make your cookies turn out dry and crumbly, rather than soft and chewy.
The cornstarch helps keep the cookies soft.
Brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
Regular and sugar-free raspberry and blackberry jam will both work. You can also use my homemade 10-minute raspberry jam recipe. (You can also substitute blackberries in that recipe to make 10-minute blackberry jam!)
Any jam flavors may be substituted for the raspberry and blackberry jams.
This recipe is easily doubled!
To see how these cookies are made, watch my video here!
{gluten-free, clean eating option, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Apple Pie Thumbprint Cookies
♡ Healthy Peanut Butter Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
♡ Healthy Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies
♡ Healthy Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
♡ Healthy Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Hi Amy.I was wondering if I were to use the gluten free flours(coconut,millet,rice) would the recipe make as many cookies? Around 20? Thank you 🙂
Yes! If you substitute the gluten-free flour blend that I include in the Notes section, the recipe will yield the same number of cookies. (And I got what you meant — no worries!!) 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them Renae!
Coconut, Millet and Tapioca.I Meant Tapioca not rice! Sorry! lol
Hi,
Having an egg in cookies how can one make sure the cookies are preserved for long periods?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Rita! I’ve actually included the best storage method for these cookies in the paragraph directly underneath the recipe title in the recipe box. I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
Tried the cookies today, was really hoping they would be great. I followed the recipe as written, except used moreno sugar for the coconut sugar. the dough was so crumbly, could not even make into balls, they cracked when I tried, I managed to make enough cracked globs to hold the jam and baked for 10 minutes as stated in the recipe, they were done but did not have a great taste at all. I ended up just throwing out the rest of the dough. They did not look anything like the pictures on here. Bummer…was so looking forward to having a semi-healthy treat with these.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Brenda! That sounds really disappointing and not like how these cookies are supposed to turn out at all, so I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened. 🙂 How did you measure the flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure? Did you use Morena as the sweetener (I couldn’t find anything for “moreno!”), and which one of their products did you use?
Hi Amy ,
Just wanted to know if we double the recipe will the timings differ? Or will the timing double as well ?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this recipe, Nazish! If you double the recipe, the chilling and baking times should remain the same. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these thumbprint cookies!
What does the egg white do?
I appreciate your interest in my recipe, Stephanie! The egg white helps bind the ingredients together and also helps make the cookies more soft and chewy (rather than cakey or dry!). 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these thumbprint cookies if you try making them!
What would happen if I use a whole egg?
I’m honored that you’d like to try this recipe, Stephanie! You’re welcome to use the whole egg if you’d prefer! The cookie dough may be a bit stickier because of the added liquid volume from the yolk. If that happens, then moisten your palms and fingers with a bit of water in between shaping each cookie to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these thumbprint cookies!