OK-I was worried about making my favorite cookie into a gluten free recipe. Well-after I saw my daughter liking her plate to get any remaining crumbs off, my worries were gone. This isn’t a typical “Tooth Food” recipe. It does use butter and sugar (although, by accident we reduced the amount of butter and it was still great). Since I first wanted to convert it to a gluten free recipe, I thought I could mess with the other ingredients at a later time. You’ll have to check back next year for alterations. If you make any, please leave them in the comments and let me know how they worked. By the way-some of these cookies crashed to the ground and were still eaten by the house vultures-that’s how good they are. They’d be great on their own without the filling as a drop/press cookie too.
In case you aren’t familiar with these gems of a cookie, they’re a traditional cut out cookie with a twist. You add your favorite filling to the center and turn them into triangles. Why? Well, let me tell you!
Hamentashen come from the term Hamen, a biblical character in Persia. Hamen was a bad man and a central character of the Jewish story of Purim. Hamen wanted to do away with the Jews of Persia, and long story short, his plan was foiled. The king saved the Jews from persecution. Every year at this time, Jews celebrate this through a carnival style party. They dress us in crazy costumes, give gifts to the needy, and indulge in a sweet 3 pointed cookie, the hamentashen, named after the shape of Hamen’s 3 pointed hat (think Napoleon).
Flours: For this recipe I used my whole grain gluten free flour blend and my all-purpose flour blend below. You can use a gluten free all purpose flour mixture. I just avoid them because I don’t like to use gums (which they have already added).
All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend (feel free to double or triple to have on hand, you will have left overs):
- 140 grams of rice flour
- 140 grams tapioca starch (can sub potato or arrowroot)
- 140 grams of millet or sorghum flour (we used millet in this recipe)-we use Bob’s Red Mill
Makes About 50-55 cookies
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of butter or margarine (traditional recipe called for 1 1/3 and by accident we reduced it, still came out great, however, might be why dough was more sticky)
- 1 cup of sugar (could sub granular sugar of choice)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 280 grams of whole grain gluten free flour blend , a blend of sorghum, teff, and millet flours-can use just sorghum if desired (or 2 cups of whole wheat flour for non-gluten free peeps)
- 280 grams of all purpose gluten free flour blend-see above or use your own* (or 2 cups of white flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp psyllium husk* (if making with traditional flours, omit this)
- Fillings of choice: prune/plum (traditional), jellies, nutella, or melted chocolate
*If you do use a pre-mix, don’t add the psyllium husk in the recipe. Psyllium acts similarly as xantham and guar gums in its absorbency property. It can be found easily in grocery stores (don’t be scared by it’s label as “colon cleanser”, it helps absorb liquid by increasing fiber). You could sub out the whole grain mixture if you don’t have all of the flours and sub a whole grain flour such as sorghum, teff, or almond. Just be sure to weigh them, as each measures out different cup amounts by weight.
Instructions:
- Weigh out flours
- Cream sugar and butter/margarine
- Add eggs
- Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, add dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, as it incorporates, add in orange juice and vanilla
- Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight
- If making with traditional flour, flour a cutting board and roll out dough. It’s easiest if you do this between 2 sheets of saran wrap, one below and one on top of the dough. If dough is sticky, add additional flour. Cut out using a floured glass and place circles on greased or lined cookie sheets
- If using gluten free flours: I rolled out some of the dough between floured saran wrap, but found it more difficult to work with. I rolled a handful of dough into additional GF All Purpose Flour to cut down on the stickiness. I made balls of dough instead (about 1 tbsp of dough) and gently pressed them into circles the size of the glass diameter.
- Add fillings of choice: prune/plum (traditional), jellies, nutella, or melted chocolate
- Pinch corners into triangle shape, so that filling still shows in center
- Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy!
Nutritional Benefits:
- Who are you kidding-it’s a traditional cookie! Well, at least it’s gluten free, right?
- ¾ cup of butter or margarine (traditional recipe called for 1⅓ and by accident we reduced it, still came out great, however, might be why dough was more sticky)
- 1 cup of sugar (could sub granular sugar of choice)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup orange juice
- 280 grams of whole grain gluten free flour blend-a blend of sorghum, teff, and millet flours (see link)-can use just sorghum if desired (or 2 cups of whole wheat flour for non-gluten free peeps)
- 280 grams of all purpose gluten free flour blend above or a commercially prepared one* (or 2 cups of white flour)
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp psyllium husk* (if making with traditional flours, omit this)
- Fillings of choice: prune/plum (traditional), jellies, nutella, or melted chocolate
- Weigh out flours
- Cream sugar and butter/margarine
- Add eggs
- Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, add dry ingredients ½ cup at a time, as it incorporates, add in orange juice and vanilla
- Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight
- If making with traditional flour, flour a cutting board and roll out dough. It's easiest if you do this between 2 sheets of saran wrap, one below and one on top of the dough. If dough is sticky, add additional flour. Cut out using a floured glass and place circles on greased or lined cookie sheets
- If using gluten free flours:
- I rolled out some of the dough between floured saran wrap, but found it more difficult to work with. I rolled a handful of dough into additional GF All Purpose Flour to cut down on the stickiness. I made balls of dough instead (about 1 tbsp of dough) and gently pressed them into circles the size of the glass diameter.
- Add fillings of choice: prune/plum (traditional), jellies, nutella, or melted chocolate
- Pinch corners into triangle shape, so that filling still shows in center
- Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy!
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