Thumbprint Cookies: THM Fuel-Pull Low-Carb Low-Fat
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Thumbprint Cookies are elegant and festive, though easy to make! And now they are also low-carb AND low-fat, too! Only 26 calories per cookie!
The holidays are full of rich, high-calorie treats. Even if they are sugar-free/Keto/THM-S, they are often heavy on the fats and nut flours (and often lacking protein, too). But here’s an easy holiday (or anytime really!) treat that both looks and tastes fancy but without the breaking the calorie-bank (though rich in protein)! These Thumbprint Cookies are crisp on the outside but soft on the inside, and surprisingly rich for being so low-fat! They are so versatile, too! Since these are THM Fuel-Pull, they can be paired with most Trim Healthy Mama fuel settings (except Deep-S) and can be topped with your favorite sugar-free fillings!
I like to top mine with my homemade sugar-free jams, like strawberry and cherry. 😋 But, since these cookies are both low-carb AND low-fat, there are tons of possibilities (so get creative!) for guilt-free snacking/desserting (I think I just invented a new word 😜).
I think these would be REALLY good (and festive) if filled with homemade sugar-free cranberry sauce, like a fuel-pull version of the THM Guilt Gone Cranberry Pie. 😋
What’s in these Thumbprint Cookies?
Instead of carb-heavy gluten/wheat flours or fat-heavy nut flours, these are made with:
- Whey protein isolate – adds protein and texture
- Oat FLOUR – adds texture and chewiness
- Oat FIBER – adds fiber and texture
- Psyllium husks (ground) – adds fiber, heartiness and moistness
There’s also 1 TBS each of:
- Butter
- Apple sauce
While these are not typically THM Fuel-Pull ingredients (as well as the oat FLOUR), these are added to help keep the cookies moist, and add flavor, as well. They are used in such small amounts that the cookies are still well within THM:FP territory. You could eat up to 4 cookies as a THM:FP snack/dessert!
Thumbprint Cookies are so easy to make!
First, think of what you may want to fill/top them with. There are several no sugar added jams/jellies that can be purchased but I like to make my own with this recipe. It’s really so easy and I love that I can sweeten it to my liking with ingredients that I feel good about.
Next, you’ll want to make sure you’re starting with room temperature butter and egg whites. Even though we’ll be chilling this dough before baking, the dough will mix together better with room temperature ingredients and will make these cookies lighter.
I quickly warm my egg whites by measuring them into a small ramekin and then setting it into hot tap water while I gather the rest of my ingredients.
Next, I measure and mix my dry ingredients and set them aside.
I then cream together my butter and powdered sweetener until a thick, uniform dough appears. I like to make my own powdered sugar-free sweetener by grinding Lakanto Golden in my coffee/spice mill until it is a fine powder and then measuring.
The egg whites should now be warm enough. I stir in them, along with my other wet ingredients, into my butter mixture. Then I stir in my dry ingredients.
The dough will be very sticky and will need to be chilled (in fridge or freezer) until you can form cookie balls in your hand without them sticking too much. For me, this takes around 30 minutes (quicker in freezer).
While dough is chilling, pre-heat oven and prepare cookie sheet by either greasing or lining with parchment paper/silicone mat.
Ready to bake!
When the dough is ready, make 12 equally-sized cookie dough balls in your hand. Then roll them in optional sweetener. The sweetener gives them a little crunch and burst of sweetness.
When setting them on the cookie sheet, press your finger into the center of the cookie balls, making a deep well for filling after baking.
Bake for about 10 minutes. But this will vary with ovens/pans/etc, so keep an eye on your first batch. They are ready when the bottoms are golden.
Allow to cool and then top with your favorite fillings! Enjoy!
Substitutions
I have not tried to make these completely dairy-free. It may be possible to substitute collagen for the whey protein, but, even with adding extra, I think the cookies may spread too much. But a dairy-free fat could easily be subbed for the butter.
I have not tried substituting the oat FLOUR or oat FIBER yet, either. But almond/coconut flour/THM Baking Blend may work (though they would make this a THM-S cookie instead).
I have also not experimented with substituting the egg whites. If using a whole egg, I would beat the egg and then only add 2 TBS of it to the recipe. A psyllium egg (but just 2 TBS amount, or one of these) may work as an egg replacement.
Greek yogurt may work as a substitute for the apple sauce (but I haven’t tested it yet).
Thumbprint Cookies THM Fuel-Pull Low-Carb
Course: THM-Fuel-Pull, Dessert, SnackCuisine: ScandinavianDifficulty: Easy12
servings5
minutes10
minutes26
kcal30
minutesThumbprint Cookies are elegant and festive, though easy to make! And now they are also low-carb AND low-fat, too! Only 26 calories per cookie!
Ingredients
- Cream together:
1 TBS or 14g butter, softened/room temperature
3 TBS powdered sweetener* (I make my own by grinding Lakanto Golden into a fine powder in my coffee/spice mill before measuring)
- Wet ingredients:
2 TBS or 30g egg whites, room temperature
1 TBS apple sauce (no sugar added)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (optional but sooo good!)
1/4 tsp butter extract
- Dry ingredients:
1/4 cup or 24g whey protein isolate
3 TBS or 23g oat FLOUR (I make my own by grinding rolled oats into fine powder before measuring)
2 TBS or 9g oat FIBER
3/4 tsp or 3g ground psyllium husks (I grind up NOW Whole Psyllium Husks into fine powder in my coffee/spice mill before measuring)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
- Roll cookie dough balls in:
Sweetener (I use Lakanto Golden), optional
Directions
- Before starting, bring butter and egg whites to room temperature. I quickly warm egg whites by measuring into a ramekin and setting it in hot tap water for a few minutes while I gather the rest of my ingredients.
- Measure and mix dry ingredients and set aside.
- Cream together butter and powdered sweetener until a thick, uniform dough appears.
- Egg whites should now be room temperature. Add wet ingredients to butter mixture and mix well.
- Then stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Place mixing bowl in fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes or until dough is firm enough that you can make a ball in your hand without it sticking too much.
- While dough is chilling, pre-heat oven to 350* and prepare cookie sheet by either greasing or lining with parchment paper.
- When dough is ready, roll into 12 equally-sized balls and then roll them in optional sweetener. When placing them on cookie sheet, press your finger into center of the cookie balls, making a deep well for adding filling later. Bake for about 10 minutes (this will vary with ovens/pans so keep an eye on first batch) or until bottoms are golden.
- Allow to cool before adding filling and then store in fridge. Enjoy!
Notes
- If any ingredients appear to have a line through them, just click to side of ingredient (or on another ingredient) and the line should disappear. It’s a feature of the recipe plugin that allows people to cross off ingredients as they add them to a recipe. Also, the print feature of this plugin is a little wonky so always check over recipe print-outs to make sure all ingredients are included and correct. Another option is to copy and paste the recipe text and print through a different program.
- Based on making 12 cookies, each cookie (not counting the jam/filling) is roughly 26 calories, 1.4g net carbs, 1.1g fat, and 2.3g protein.
- If using a different sweetener, check out this sweetener conversion chart.
Nutrition Facts
12 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories26
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
1.1g
2%
- Total Carbohydrate
2.2g
1%
- Dietary Fiber 0.8g 4%
- Protein 2.3g 5%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
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