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These Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies with pretty, naturally dyed, pastel icing are perfect for Easter or anytime you want to get festive. Easy to make and kid approved!

Aren’t these Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies adorable?! I can’t stop staring at them.

I also can’t stop shoving them in my mouth. Luckily, my kids are shoving them in just as fast so I won’t eat the whole batch myself.

The cookies themselves are super quick and easy, but trust me when I tell you, it was a fiasco getting them done. I’ll tell you more about that in a bit (teaser: an icing covered table and a mangled measuring spoon), but first let me tell you about these delicious cookies!

Healthy Ingredients

The base for these gluten free thumbprint cookies only needs 6 ingredients and none of them are gluten, oil, butter, dairy, eggs or refined sugar.

The main ingredient is Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, which is made from whole, blanched sweet almonds.

Almonds are healthy nuts providing a good amount of manganese and vitamin E , as well as a healthy serving of monounsaturated fats. Not only do almonds have a healthy boost of protein, they are also very low in carbohydrates and gluten free.

Pretty Icing

If you stopped right there, you’d have a totally acceptable, yummy cookie perfect for a treat any day of the year.

But, I didn’t stop there. I decided to top them with some pretty pastel icing. Some natural, whole food, dyed icing that is!

Hometown Inspiration

The inspiration for these gluten free thumbprint cookies came from Trefzger’s Bakery in my hometown of Peoria, IL. They sell the most amazing pastel colored thumbprint cookies.

Their cookie base is not your regular shortbread, they are more like soft pecan sandies. They sell these all year round and I can remember them being at a lot of family celebrations. But, I always felt like they were Easter cookies because of the spring time colors.

Soft and Delicate

While I’m sure my ingredient list looks drastically different than theirs, I managed to create a soft, delicate cookie with a slight chew…and yes, containing pecans, too, just like the bakery cookie.

Homemade is Best

These Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies beat stale store bought candy any day!

When we were little, my mom would hide plastic Easter eggs filled with candy. We were so excited to wake up and find the eggs.

Unfortunately, we almost never found all the eggs. Sometimes, we would find a few several months, or even a year, later.

After years of this, my mom got wise and started numbering the eggs and writing down where she hid each one.

But, homemade is best, so skip the store bought stuff and make some real treats instead!

Naturally Dyed with Whole Foods

Let’s get back to this icing. I used raspberries, kale, peaches and turmeric to create the beautiful pastel colors.

Can you taste it? Yes, very slightly.

Personally, I don’t like super sweet icing, so I really loved the subtle background flavors of the kale and turmeric…though I doubt you would be able to pinpoint what it was if you didn’t know.

These flavors did mellow some on day two and were barely noticeable. The raspberry flavor remained a little more pronounced, but who doesn’t like sweet berry icing?

Kid Approved

The kids gave a big thumbs up to all three flavors.

If you’re worried about the kale or turmeric flavors coming through, start with as little as possible until you get the color you desire.

Or you can play around with other fruits/veggies/herbs/spices. Have fun with your food!

Bloggers are Real People Too

Well, I promised to tell you about the fiasco that was making these cookies, so here we go…

After finally perfecting the cookies and icing and baking them up all pretty, I carried everything into my dining room where I take my photos. I picked up the cooling rack that held all of my cookies and promptly dumped more than half of them. They landed icing side down (icing which was still wet by the way) onto my table.

Luckily, I was able to salvage enough for these photos.

As If That Wasn’t Enough

Then, while cleaning up, I accidentally dropped a measuring spoon down the garbage disposal. I reached over to turn on the light so I could see better to retrieve it, but instead accidentally flipped on the garbage disposal itself which sent the now chewed up measuring spoon flying back out at my face.

Luckily, I didn’t lose a finger or an eye!

Well, there you have it! Food bloggers are real people too. The final product might look pretty, but it’s not always pretty getting there!

Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies

I’m excited for you guys to try these Gluten Free Thumbprint Cookies!!

If you try them, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback and star rating. You can also find me on social media. Be sure to tag @veggie_inspired and #veggieinspired so I’m sure to see it.

Happy Baking!