Recipe: Gluten-free, Nut-Free Hamantaschen, Adapted from Tori Avey

Swoon!

Hamantaschen. Purim. Queen Esther. Prince Haman (boooo!) 

I challenged myself this week to make gluten-free, nut-free Hamantaschen and oh my goodness, these did not disappoint! The dough is exactly right (what I remember from childhood, right): soft, buttery, crumbly (in the good way) with a scent of orange. The prune filling, very traditional, is also just right. I couldn't be more thrilled by this recipe. 

Thank you, Tori Avey's Buttery Hamantaschen for creating a recipe that I could easily adapt with such delicious results!

Raw beauties headed into the oven.

RECIPE NOTES:
Baking is chemistry + experience + intuition + your senses (smell, touch, taste). All of those skills will come to bear here especially with a GF dough. But the outcome is TOTALLY worth the challenge.

I used Tori Avey's Buttery Hamantaschen recipe and substituted gluten-free all-purpose flour for wheat flour one to one ratio and it worked perfectly. 

This GF dough does not like to be in the fridge overnight, I tried it and ended up with dough that wouldn't roll or form into triangles. So chill the dough, but no more than two hours is needed. If you do chill overnight, let warm up on the counter for about 30 minutes.

Apricot ones with dough that had been chilled overnight. STILL DELISH and totally gobbled up!

Do make the filling (prune lekvar) ahead of time. Or use Bonne Maman jam, delish!

I used Domino Kosher fine salt.

I used Domino white sugar

I washed my orange with a tiny drop of dishwashing soap and scrubbed the skin very well before zesting. 

I used Nielsen-Massey vanilla.

I used Horizon organic butter, unsalted.

I used Betty Crocker gluten-free rice flour blend. Here are the ingredients as of February 2018.

I made this first on a rainy day and that can def affect the moisture in your dough. So, I didn't need to add any additional water but feel with your fingers, it should be crumbly but hold together.

***

RECIPE:

Gluten-free, Nut-Free Hamantaschen
Adapted from Tori Avey's Buttery Hamantaschen
Makes approx. 22-24 cookies

Ingredients
¾  cup unsalted butter (12 T or 1 ½ stick), room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 ¼  cups GF AP flour blend
¼   tsp salt
1-5 tsp water (as needed)

Cookie dough directions:
Cut butter into tablespoons and place in a large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest to the creamed butter sugar mixture. Beat again until creamy and well mixed.

Sift the gluten free flour and salt directly into the bowl with the creamed sugar butter mixture.

Mix everything with the electric mixer on low speed until a dough forms. Finish by bringing dough together with your hands until a smooth ball forms. 

Mine didn't need any extra water or flour at this stage but Tori recommends: "If the crumbles are too dry to form a smooth dough, add water slowly, 1 teaspoon at a time, using your hands to knead the liquid into the dough. Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch (not sticky), with a consistency that is right for rolling out. It can easily go from the right consistency to too wet/sticky, so add water very slowly. If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour till it reaches the right texture."

Once form into a dough ball, wrap in plastic wrap and place back into the mixing bowl and let it chill in the fridge for up to 2 hours. 

(While dough is chilling, you can make the lekvar now and let it cool. Or if you're using pre-made jam, I like Bonne Maman, have it ready with a teaspoon for scooping as you will need to work quickly once you roll out the dough.)

Rolling out the cookie dough:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Lay out some parchment paper the size of your baking sheet onto a clean surface. With your GF flour, lightly flour your parchment paper surface. 

Unwrap the dough and place it on the floured surface. The dough will be firm after chilling. Working quickly, use a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. 

Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, or the 3-inch rim of a glass, cut out as many rounds as you can. Gather the scraps, roll back into a ball and cut more rounds. (If the dough feels too soft, pop it back into the fridge for a bit and then start the cookie cutting process again when ready.)

Place a teaspoon of your preferred filling into the center of each circle. 

Pinch a top point and then two bottom points. 

(Look at Tori's website for great pictures on doing this step or this video of Joan Nathan.)

Assemble the hamantaschen: 

When all of your hamantaschen have been filled, place them on your prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced.

Place them in the oven and let them bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden at the edges and the filling is starting to bubble.

Cool the cookies on a wire rack. 

Eat immediately. Or store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag or Tupperware for up to 3 days for maximum goodness. 

Purim Sameach everyone!