chocolate & pistachio thumbprint cookies

we went out for indian food this weekend with another couple, and debated at length to figure out what to order to share family-style. this lead to a conversation about our inabilities to order something besides our all time favorite dish. when i think of my most frequented restaurants, i'll admit that i typically order the same thing, every damn time. sometimes i force myself to branch out and try something new but this often leads to a serious case of food-envy when you see someone else order your go-to dish. no matter how tasty your meal is, it just doesn't compare to your favorite dish. 

to back track a bit... remember those earl grey date bars i posted last week? well, i may have blown through then entire batch already with very little help from my guy. i should have made a larger batch. i considered remaking a batch, but tenuously decided to try a variation. considering it was risky business, i opted to make a half batch of dough. thankfully, you can't go too wrong once you add chocolate into the equation. so there was no food envy. there were no regrets. there was just pure delight. 

chocolate & pistachio thumbprint cookies ~ makes 15 cookies

1 cups rolled oats (gluten free if you prefer) or oat flour

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon chia seeds

3 tablespoons water

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoons vanilla extract 

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons pistachio, finely chopped

preheat oven to 350 degrees. soak chia seeds in water and let rest for 10 minutes. to make the dough, pulse oats in a food processor until you create a coarse flour. add coconut sugar, baking soda and sea salt and pulse to combine. add melted coconut oil, chia seed gel and vanilla extract and pulse until a dough forms. 

scoop out a tablespoon of dough at a time and roll in your palms to form a smooth dough ball. place dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet with an inch of space between each cookie. bake for 10 minutes. remove from oven and use your thumb to gently press a well into each cookie. return to oven and bake for 8-10 more minutes, or until lightly browned. let cool on a baking rack. 

in the mean time, bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a small sauce pan. rest a heat-proof bowl (glass or metal) over the steaming water. use a bowl large enough to not slip into the sauce pan. place chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) in the double boiler and stir for a few minutes until completely melted. 

use a teaspoon to slowly spoon the melted chocolate into the thumbprints. sprinkle each cookie with a dusting of crushed pistachios and a pinch of sea salt. let cool completely to allow the chocolate to harden.