Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

The first time I tasted Nutella was in the form of a cookie. Well, I licked the spoon while I was making the cookies. It was my during my first “real job” you know, a check twice a month, parking space, key fob…what I used to think was the epitome of the word “career”. My how times have changed but that’s for another day and another post. I made them with butter, flour, milk chocolate, eggs and of course, Nutella and they were gooooood. Except for when I showed up to work some of my co-workers couldn’t have them because they were gluten free, had milk allergy– those types of things.

Flash forward to my current reality as a plant based, conscious eater… I’ve been looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth and Nutella craving. Alas, the Nutella Thumbprint Cookies with a smooth, chocolate center and white chocolate drizzle.

Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

Vegan, gluten-free, peanut free, soy-free
Servings: 8-10 cookies

Cookie Ingredients

• 1 cup lightly toasted hazelnuts
• 6 dates
• 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• pinch sea salt

Chocolate Ingredients

• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp room temperature coconut oil

White Chocolate Drizzle Ingredients

• 3 tbsp vegan white chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven 350F
2. Soak dates in 2 cups water
3. Place nuts on parchment lined baking sheet, lightly toast for 10 minutes
4. Spoon nuts onto a kitchen towel or several paper towels while rubbing them gently inside towel to remove most of the skin, allow to cool
5. Strain dates using your hands, place on paper towel and remove pits
6. Add cookie ingredients to food processor. Pulse and process until the mixture combines into a coarse dough
7. Remove food processor blade and spoon 1-2 tbsp of mixture into balls onto a parchmentlined baking sheet and press your thumb into the center making an indent
8. Place cookies in refrigerator 20 minutes while making the chocolate
9. Combine coconut oil and chocolate in a small bowl and stir until smooth
10. Combine coconut oil and white chocolate chips in a small glass bowl over a pan of hot water and heat over medium-high temperature stirring until combined
11. Place the cool cookies onto a wire cooling rack and spoon chocolate into the indents
12. Using a spoon, drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies