Maple-Almond Thumbprint Cookies

I love these cookies and they can host a variety of ingredient combinations. And with just the right variations, they can become gluten free or vegan.

Ingredients:
1 & 1/2 Cups of Almonds (to be ground)
1/4 Cup of Maple Syrup
1 Egg
1 Tbl. Vanilla
Pinch of Salt

Toppings:
Whole Nuts
Jelly/Jam

Optional:
Cinnamon - I'm a cinnamon freak so I tend to douse whatever I can in cinnamon.

Variations can come in by substituting the 1&1/2 Cups of almonds with a mixture or variety of flours and or oatmeal. I tend to also like 1 cup of oats and 1/2 cup of ground almonds.
The egg can be substituted with 1/4 cup of canola oil.

Kitchen Tools:
Oven
Magic Bullet/Food Processor

Step 1: Grind the Almonds

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Measure out 1&1/2 Cups of Almonds and, using a food processor or Magic Bullet, grind them until they are flour-like. I like to keep some large almond pieces as well for a bit of a crunch.

I frequently make this recipe with 1 cup of steel-cut oats (and half a cup of almonds) which are a little harder than rolled oats so I will soak the steel-cut oats for 10-15 minutes and then also use the Magic Bullet to grind them up.

Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients

Next, add all the dry ingredients together: cinnamon, salt, almonds (flour/oatmeal if using).

Step 3: Mix Dry and Wet Ingredients

Combine the egg, maple syrup and vanilla with the dry ingredients. If using canola oil, a slick trick is to put in 1/4 C of canola oil first and then put the maple syrup in the same 1/4 C as the oil. This will ensure that all the maple syrup gets into the batter.

Step 4: Preparing and Baking

Create ~1" size balls and place them on a baking sheet. You can put the cookies pretty close together as they don't spread very much when baking. Then, using a spoon or your thumb, create a little indent at the center of each cookie for the jam to go into. Use a spoon and put a dallop of jam into each little crater. You can also put whole nuts on the top to decorate the cookies.

Place the tray into the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Step 5: Cool and Enjoy

Remove from the oven, let cool and enjoy!