Turtle Pecan Thumbprint cookies w/ Brown Butter & Spelt

Turtle pecan thumbprint cookies are made with brown butter and spelt, filled with a honey-maple caramel and drizzled with dark chocolate. This cookie is paleo and gluten free friendly. Substitutions are to the right of the original ingredients.

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Guys, I am on a thumbprint cookie kick! Or at least, I couldn’t make up my mind between two different ideas I had. Turtle pecan thumbprint cookies and orange sesame thumbprint cookies are both so good I just couldn’t decide. So I’m posting them both! These turtle pecan thumbprint cookies are my version of a fan favorite. The cookie is made of ground pecans, brown butter, and a blend of spelt and pastry flour (although they can easily be made gluten and grain free). They are like a super nutty, light yet decadent shortbread. The perfect nest for a little caramel. Add some chopped pecans, a chocolate drizzle, and they are a home run.

Turtle Pecan Thumbprint Cookies are Super Versatile

I made these cookies so many times and so many different ways that I can make them in my sleep. The final recipe I settled on for these turtle pecan thumbprint cookies are the best tasting, hands down. I mean seriously, brown butter? But…they also taste great using almond flour or coconut oil instead of butter. I haven’t tried a vegan version of these cookies because the egg yolk in this recipe literally holds everything together. Although you are more than welcome to experiment with a flax egg if you feel so inclined.

I also experimented with using xylitol as a sweetener. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is produced from hard trees like birch. It is lower in calories and carbohydrates than cane sugar and is low glycemic. The real reason I wanted to try making cookies with xylitol is because my mom has pretty severe osteoporosis. There have been studies that suggest xylitol can help reduce the deterioration of the skeleton. Although my mom prefers a sugary cookie, I wanted to play a part in improving her bone health, one cookie at a time. Also, as it says on my bag of xylitol I bought from the health food store, people in Europe use it. So that’s reason enough, right?

The Caramel

This caramel is dang delicious. I tried using my salted date caramel from my chocolate banana bread recipe , but it wasn’t quite sticky enough for this cookie. So, I played around with making a honey maple caramel instead. The result was fantastic. Super buttery caramel with just the perfect amount of stickiness. I simply simmered equal parts honey and maple together with coconut milk and butter for about 20 minutes and we have ourselves a naturally sweetened caramel success.

Guys, there’s literally no other cookie you need to make for the holidays. Well, except for these sesame orange thumbprint cookies.

MORE HOLIDAY PARTY FOOD

Looking for more ideas for your holiday party? Check some of these other POP KITCHEN recipes!

The Ultimate Holiday Party Platter with

Fennel Goat Cheese Dip and

Ginger Spiced Cashew Dip

Coconut Sugar Cookies

Grain Free Chocolate Banana Bread

Mini Earl Grey Crepes with Lavender Ricotta

Rhubarb Tequila Negronis

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Mousse

Protein Power Chocolate Truffles

Vegan Beet Burger Sliders

Spicy Rose Gin Champagne Cocktails

HEALTHY HOLIDAYS AND ALWAYS

I recently asked you folks over on my Instagram account which you’d rather see over the holidays: healthy sweets or savory treats . Well it was an exact 50/50 split. So look forward to a lot of everything as we move toward the New Year.

These turtle pecan thumbprint cookies falls under the healthy sweets category and will be right at home next to your other fave holiday treats.

Happiest of Holidays to you from me, Stacy, here at POP KITCHEN!

SHARE THE #POPKITCHEN LOVE!

When you make these turtle pecan thumbprint cookies, let me know! I absolutely love seeing your photos of POP KITCHEN recipes up on Instagram . Like POP KITCHEN on Facebook and follow along with all of my recipe inspiration on Pinterest ! Oh, and can you tell your friends about me? K, thanks, luh ew, bye!

Recipe

Turtle Pecan Thumbprint cookies w/ Brown Butter & Spelt

Ingredients

• 1 cup grass-fed butter, ghee or coconut oil
• ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp coconut sugar, xylitol, or cane sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup pecans ground to a fine meal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, pastry flour, or almond flour
• ⅔ cup spelt flour, whole wheat flour, or coconut flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Chopped pecans for rolling cookies
• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 1¼ cup full fat coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
• ½ cup dark chocolate for drizzling
• Food processor for making pecan meal (you could also place the pecans in a plastic bag and beat with a rolling pin to crush them.
• Beaters or an electric mixer with Whip attachement
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment paper
• Sauce pan

Instructions

1. COOKIES: First, you need to brown your butter (if you’re using ghee or coconut oil, skip this step). Add your butter to a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until it starts to boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or until the butter has become golden brown. If it gets too dark, don’t worry, it will still taste awesome. Fill a large bowl with ice and water and put the bottom of the hot sauce pan in the ice water. This will shock it and cool the butter down quickly. Let sit about 5 minutes or until the butter is cool to the touch.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C/4 gas.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, add all of the dry ingredients except the sugar (ground pecans, all-purpose flour, spelt flour, and sea salt) and stir to evenly combine.
4. In a large mixing bowl beat together (with either electric beaters or an electric mixer) the cooled brown butter (ghee or coconut oil) together with the sugar/xyitol until the mixture gets light in color and fluffy.
5. Continue mixing and add one egg yolk at a time being sure everything is incorporated before adding another.
6. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
7. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing as you go. Once all the dry ingredients are added, mix only until everything is incorporated and then stop to avoid over mixing.
8. Roll cookie dough into ping pong size balls, dip half of the ball into a bowl of chopped pecans, and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Keep the cookies about 2 inches apart.
9. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven and with your thumb or the end of a serving spoon, press down the middle of the cookie to slightly flatten, leaving an indentation in the middle. Bake another 8 minutes or until just the slightest bit of golden brown appears.
10. CARAMEL SAUCE: In a small sauce pan combine the honey, maple, coconut milk, and butter/oil. Bring to a boil and then reduce down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Increase the heat to medium high and whisk the caramel continuously for 5 minutes until it is golden brown and beginning to thicken. Turn down the heat to medium low and allow to simmer another 5-10 minutes or until it has reached a sticky yet pourable consistency.
12. CONSTRUCTING YOUR COOKIES: Melt chocolate either over a double boiler or by microwaving 10 seconds at a time and stirring. Place a small dollop of caramel in the thumprint of each cookie. Drizzle the cookies with the melted chocolate. Let the cookies sit for 1-2 hours to allow the caramel and chocolate to set.