Almond Butter Jam-prints

Whenever I tell people I'm from Minnesota they always say "Isn't it FREEZING there?" Sure, it gets freezing. But guess what else. It gets boiling hot in the summer. 

When it gets up to 100º the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven. This has led me to discover something new and exciting: night baking. It's much quieter and cooler at night and baking becomes this kind of meditative activity. It's just you and the cookie dough.

And maybe a cat or two.

It's really quite lovely.

The only problem? The next day when I go to photograph the cookies, the batch I made last night is magically smaller... I blame the cookie gnomes. Cookie gnomes love these sweet and salty jam thumbprints almost as much as I do.

Almond Butter Jam-prints

makes 1 dozen

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup maple syrup 
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
jam or jelly of your choice (I used blueberry pomegranate jelly from the farmers market. It was delicious! I highly recommend blueberry or blackberry to go with the almond butter flavor)

1. Preheat the oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Mix together the almond butter, maple syrup, oil and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy. Add the dry mixture into the wet and stir until fully incorporated. 
3. Place your chopped almonds in a small dish. Form the cookie dough into about 1" round balls and roll each ball in the almonds. Align the balls on the baking sheet and press your thumb into each one to make a little well for the jam. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
4. Let the cookies cool for about 15 minutes, then fill each with roughly 1/2 teaspoon of jam or jelly. Enjoy and don't let the cookie gnomes get them! (They are a real thing, I promise)

In the words of my brother, these cookies "are like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but better." True.