Do you ever just want a twix bar, or any other candy bars?! From time-to-time I just want peanut buttery, gooey, chocolatey goodness. Welp, enter our salted caramel thumbprint cookies. These bad boys are gooey at its finest with their salted caramel center, and the secret ingredient in the salted caramel sauce gives them a hint of peanut buttery deliciousness.
I also love that the cookies themselves are soft and chewy. You’ll be surprised at how much they rise in the oven. While these are not an exact replica of a twix bar, they are an excellent treat to have with a late morning coffee (don’t judge – sometimes I eat a cookie with coffee in the morning). If you don’t roll like that, try them with an afternoon tea or with vanilla ice cream for dessert. You choose how you enjoy them; that’s the best part!
Try making a batch of these with different nut butters to see what you like best. For this batch, I used part crunchy almond butter and part cashew butter. I love crunchy almond butter for the texture, and the creamy cashew butter for its likeness to peanut butter. You really can’t go wrong, which means you can play with the recipe and tailor it to your own tastes. It also means you get to make multiple batches of these salted caramel thumbprint cookies! I don’t hate that. Just sayin’.
If you try out these salted caramel thumbprint cookies, let us know how you like it by leaving a comment below. Also, take a picture and tag it on Instagram @realsimplegood so we can check it out!
Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies (GF, Dairy-Free, Refined Sugar-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup cashew butter, (or sub almond or sunflower butter)
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1/8 cup dark chocolate chips, melted
For the caramel sauce:
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut milk
- 1/4 cup cashew butter
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit, and line a cookie sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk your egg, maple syrup, and vanilla.
- Add in your nut butter(s) and continue whisking until your mixture is smooth.
- Next, add your coconut flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. At this point, I switched to a spoon to finish mixing everything together. The batter will get pretty thick and sticky, so a spoon is easier to work with.
- Spoon out big balls of the dough onto your lined cookie sheet. Mine where about the size of a golfball. The dough will be sticky so just do your best to shape them into balls.
- Place your cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- While the cookies are baking, make a batch of caramel sauce by placing a small pan over medium heat and adding coconut sugar and coconut milk to the pan.
- Let it heat up, stirring frequently until everything is fluid and smooth. It will still be pretty soupy.
- Add cashew butter and sea salt and continue stirring until the mixture thickens and becomes more velvety. You can turn the heat down to low and let it simmer until you are ready to use.
- Remove cookies from the oven after 10 minutes and use the backside of a small spoon to form indentations in the cookies. This is where your salted caramel filling will go. Return your cookies to the oven and bake for 2 more minutes.
- Now, melt chocolate chips using a double boiler or microwave.
- Remove cookies and spoon the caramel sauce into the indentations. Then, drizzle your melted chocolate over the top.
- You can let your cookies settle for a few so the caramel and chocolate set. Then, get to it. Eat up! These salted caramel thumbprint cookies are gooey, nutty, and chocolatey.
I LOVE these cookies! Such a fun, yummy treat! Thanks for sharing this with us at Savoring Saturdays linky party!
They are great!! Thanks for stopping by! Glad to be back at Savoring Saturdays! 🙂
I’ll be featuring this later today at Savoring Saturdays. So excited to get to feature one of your recipes on my last day hosting. It’s been so nice connecting with you there. xo
Agreed! What a pleasure to meet you through Savoring Saturdays. Sad to hear you won’t be hosting anymore, but hopefully you are onto a new exciting adventure. Would love to hear about it!
These are paleo? Your joking right? They look so sinful and full of sugar!
Bwahahha! They’re definitely a treat, not to be enjoyed everyday, but a clean treat that is paleo-friendly!! Might need to make another batch soon just to double check! 😉