I've said it before, and I'll say it again... Spring is most definitely one of my favorite times of year. There's just something to be said of the change in light, the fresh air, and everything coming back to life in the garden.

I don't know about you, but when I think about Spring and Easter, I think about the brightness of lemons. Maybe that's because it's about this time of year when my lemon tree starts to produce for me; giving me plenty of fresh beautiful lemons to use at my leisure.

To celebrate the arrival of Easter and Spring, I decided it would be the perfect time to bake up some tender, sweet and tart lemon thumbprint cookies - perfect for any basket; Easter or otherwise!

When it comes to Easter, we have our own family traditions of doing things a little outside of the box. So far the running theme for this year will be taking a picnic out to one of the local wineries in the Hill Country to enjoy together as a family. This won't be our first time doing this either. Easter picnics have been in the rotation for this holiday for a good 6-7 years now.

This time around I wanted to keep these cookies naturally gluten free, so I decided to use Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal; which is  made from ground whole, blanched sweet almonds. Not only do almonds have a healthy boost of protein, they are also very low in carbohydrates. To lighten these cookies up further, I also substituted half of the sugar for a natural sweetener, and of course used a light butter.

The end result were perfectly buttery, soft and chewy cookies that had just the right amount of lemony goodness to brighten up your Easter and Spring festivities! These cookies are the perfect addition to any Easter or picnic basket.

Just be sure that you keep them in a cool dry place for storage! Since there is curd involved, these should be stored in the refrigerator or over an icepack.

Skinny Lemon Thumbprint Cookies (Gluten Free)
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 22 • Size: 1 Cookie • Calories: 117.2 • Fat: 8.2 g • Carb: 8.5 g • Fiber: 1.6 g • Protein: 3 g • Sugar: 5.7 g • Sodium: 87 mg

Ingredients:
2 C. Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour
1/4 C. Coconut Flour
1/4 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Natural Sweetener
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 Tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Light Butter, Melted & Cooled Slightly
1 Large Whole Egg
1 Tbsp. Lemon Zest
1/2 Lemon, Juiced
1/3 C. Lemon Curd
powdered sugar, optional

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the 2 C. Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour, 1/4 C. Coconut Flour, 1/4 C. Sugar, 1/4 C. Natural Sweetener, 1 Tsp. Baking Powder, and 1/8 Tsp. Salt; set aside as well.

Right now there's also a Bob’s Red Mill coupon available.

In another medium mixing bowl, mix together the 1/2 C. Butter, 1 Large Whole Egg, 1 Tbsp. Lemon Zest, and the Lemon Juice.

Add the dry mixture into the wet and stir until just combined; allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1" balls and place 2" apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the cookies for about 6 minutes.

Remove from the oven and use a round 1/2 Tsp. measuring spoon to press down about 3/4 of the way though the cookie to make an indention.

Fill each indention with about 1/2 tsp. of the lemon curd.

Return the pan to the oven to bake for another 5-7 minutes.

Once the cookies have set and the bottoms are brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy warm or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.