Caramel almond Apple Butter Cookies-peanut Free and gluten Free!

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     Welcome to my newest cookie experiment! 
      Once again, an idea has come into my mind that I simply had to give a try.   It happens when I have ingredients in my house that I feel like I need to use.  Then, I think about who in my family would like whatever I come up with and if I can make it to fit their dietary needs or restrictions.  

       In my pantry, I had a couple of different kinds of almond butter.  One of my grandsons is allergic to peanuts and other nuts, but not almonds which is apparently not really a nut.  One of the types of almond butter I had was a caramel almond butter that sounded pretty delicious!  I also have lots of jam and I thought to myself, "Self, you know I think that apple butter would taste really good with that caramel almond butter!"  I agreed with myself and I then began to think that a thumbprint cookie made from the almond butter and the apple butter would be great together.  The idea took off from there. 

     I love shortbread type jam filled cookies, so I was sure that these would be fabulous, only the cookie part would be more like a peanut butter cookie.  Then, the realization came to me that I could also make these cookies flourless because I know that flourless peanut butter cookies are a thing so why  not almond cookies?  Then, not only could my grandson enjoy these cookies, but also my SIL, who has to eat gluten free!  You've got to love double duty baking! 

     As I made the cookies, I realized that the almond butter was pretty oily, so if you would rather make a version of peanut butter type cookies with flour in it, that might help with the oil from the almonds.  Or, maybe there is a brand of almond butter out there that is less oily than the one I used.   But, the taste of the caramel flavored almond butter is really good!  
     In this recipe there are only 4 ingredients, (plus a dash of salt).  

• Caramel Almond Butter
• sugar​
  
• 1 egg
  
• ​1 tsp vanilla
  

     After you make the dough, scoop the cookies out with a cookie scoop and make a hole in the middle of each lump of dough.

     Next, you fill each cookie with apple butter, or other fruit butter.  You could use jam as well.  I used Cran-Apple Butter in half of the cookies and Apricot-Peach Butter in the other half.   The Apricot-Peach looked the prettiest! 

Apricot-Peach Filling

Cran-Apple Butter Filling

     After filling them, bake them for about 13-15 minutes 350 degrees. 
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     After the cookies came out of the oven, I decided that they needed a little something extra, so I drizzled on some caramel sauce.   I made that with butter, brown sugar and milk, then added some powdered sugar for more body.  The leftover sauce will be delicious on ice cream! You could also use a store purchased caramel sauce.​

     My husband loved these cookies because of the crisp outsides and then the chewiness.  I feel like they are still a work in progress, but serving them to my family won't make anyone sad!  I'll let you know if I do any updating!  Click on the recipe to  get the printable version! ​

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