Almond & Honey-Butter Cookies

I made this recipe but did substitutions for my personal needs. I used Namaste Foods Gluten Free Perfect Flour Blend in place of the all purpose and whole wheat flour, I used Trader Joe's Almond flour instead of grinding rosted almonds, and filled the thumbprints before cooking with homemade low sugar strawberry fruit spread. I followed the rest of the recipe as written. I found the flavor and consistency to be great. My 6 year old loved them. Next time I will try with only 1/2 c of honey in the batter as I found these too sweet.

These cookies aren't bad, but I demand a lot from my desserts. I made them despite my better judgment, by which I mean all the concerning reviews I read on here. I read other's suggestions, including more butter or applesauce, but I don't think they fix the problems here. These also need amaretto or almond extract, because although these are about 50% pure almonds, they don't have anything close to the almond flavor that I would expect from an almond butter cookie.

My suggestion is to take a totally different butter/almond cookie recipe and make it healthier by using your judgement to substitute whole wheat flour, reduce butter, and/or replace sugar with honey. I'll be able to eat these and enjoy them, but I would not make this recipe, with any modifications, again.