Celebrating a Gluten-Free, Vegan Purim…Hamantaschen!

Growing up, one of the my favorite Jewish holidays was Purim. It’s an incredibly rowdy celebration, almost like Halloween, where we dress up like characters from the story of Purim and are encouraged to make as much noise as possible when Haman (the bad guy) is mentioned. I remember my grandfather pouring a 3rd…4th…5th… glass of wine for the adults and saying that on Purim you’re supposed to drink so much that you can’t remember the difference between the evil Haman and the hero Mordechai.

Hamantaschen are the traditional Purim dessert- a triangular cookie referencing the shape of Haman’s hat. Last week, I realized that it’s probably been at least 7 years since I’ve had a hamantaschen so I set out on making a gluten-free and vegan version. These cookies bring back so many childhood memories, I can’t tell you how happy I was when my recipe turned out even tastier than I remembered!  I found an awesome visual guide for assembling the perfect hamantaschen, which I’ve included in the recipe below. You’ll notice that the recipe calls for 100% fruit spread. I used apricot but other traditional fillings are raspberry, strawberry, poppyseed and orange.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Hamantaschen

makes about 12 cookies

What you’ll need:

• 1.5 cups GF All Purpose Baking Flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tbs cornstarch
• 1 tbs xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, softened
• 1/4 cup agave
• 1.5 cups 100% fruit spread (I used apricot)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Whisk together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
3. Follow these directions for assembling cookies.
4. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Enjoy!