If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it! I say that all the time when trying to explain to people why they should stay away from certain foods. I am however making an exception for these Grain-Free Hamantaschen cookies… Okay, I must confess that I have to make a lot of exceptions to this rule, being a foreigner who came to the US as an adult, I still struggle with a few words.. Rutabaga… (rü-tə-ˈbā-gə) How am I even supposed to read those characters? That doesn’t really help me! Roo-tah-ba-gah… ruh-ta-bah-ga….I give up! In Spanish each letter sounds the same no matter where you put it. In English it gets a little more complicated, how can read and read (past tense) be written the exact same way and be pronounced differently?
But why is a non-jewish Costa Rican experimenting with this recipe? Well, part of it because it was a request from a friend, and part of it because I am following my own personal challenge of always trying new foods. To make this I had to do a little bit of research to try to find out what they are and how they taste. I also tried to read a little bit about the history behind them but found a few different versions, so I am not even going to try to explain Jewish history here.
There was a little trial and error behind these cookies, my previous batch crumbled apart and looked like my 3 year old made them all by herself, but I redeemed my self with these ones. They are pretty darn good!
Ingredients:
2 cups of almond flour
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey
6 tbsp of coconut flour
1/4 tsp of fine sea salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of favorite fruit preserve ( see recipe below)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine all the ingredients together, except for the coconut flour and fruit preserve, using a food processor or immersion blender.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and start adding the coconut flour while kneading the dough until you get a play-dough consistency.
- Put the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and flatten the dough with a rolling-pin.
- Make circles using a cookie cutter or the top of a glass.
- Put 1-2 tsp of the fruit preserve in the middle of each circle.
- Fold the edges of the circle to make a triangle. Use the parchment paper to help you fold them ( If the dough is too soft and “crumbly” try refrigerating it for 20 minutes).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they start to turn light golden, put the oven rack 1 or 2 places below the middle, to make sure the bottom of the cookie is cooking as well.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes.
Optional Fruit Preserve:
1/4 cup of pitted prunes
1/4 cup of dry apricots
1/4 cup of raisins
3 deglet dates
1/2 cup of orange juice
Preparation:
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes over medium/low heat.
- Allow for it to cool down.
- Run it through a food processor until a jam is formed
For other cookie recipes try my paleo chocolate chip cookies, grain-free gingerbread cookies or my almond thumb print cookies with honey lemon curd. I am thinking that the lemon curd would make a great filling for these grain-free hamantaschen.
- Ingredients:
- 2 cups of almond flour
- 1/2 cup of coconut oil
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 6 tbsp of coconut flour
- 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of favorite fruit preserve ( see recipe above)
- Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Combine all the ingredients together, except for the coconut flour and fruit preserve, using a food processor or immersion blender.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl and start adding the coconut flour while kneading the dough until you get a play-dough consistency.
- Put the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and flatten the dough with a rolling-pin.
- Make circles using a cookie cutter or the top of a glass.
- Put 1-2 tsp of the fruit preserve in the middle of each circle.
- Fold the edges of the circle to make a triangle ( If the dough is too soft and “crumbly” try refrigerating it for 20 minutes).
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they start to turn light golden, put the oven rack 1 or 2 places below the middle, to make sure the bottom of the cookie is cooking as well.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack for an additional 10 minutes.
edibleharmony.wordpress.com 
They look good!
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I was wondering what a real jewish would think of them
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A “real Jew”, says, the ingredients are good. You make the best of your situations. Be creative and thank G-D for His many blessings He gives you. Amein! As long as all ingredients are kosher, it is tov! It is good! Baruch HaShem!
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As a non Jew, I’m not sure how they might react, but to the best of my Goyim knowledge there is nothing inherently wrong (non-Kosher) with this, and, according to this article, using almond flour is actually recommended. Personally I think they sound delectable 😉
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/02/21/orange_poppy_seed_hamantaschen_recipe_they_look_like_hats_but_taste_like.html
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That’s what I thought, let’s see what the jewish community has to say, hopefully I did not break any rules
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Speaking on behalf of the Jewish community, these look lovely and I don’t believe there are any specific rules on Hamantaschen making/ingredients. Very traditional fillings are prune lekvar (a kind of puree) and a poppy seed mixture but here in the US, raspberry or apricot jam are very common from bakeries. The holiday itself utilizes dried fruits, nuts and chocolates as celebratory foods. I might just try these as I have not had a Hamantaschen in 9 years. What I remember about them though, is the dough had a distinct (and yummy) flavor. It was not just a triangle cookie w filling.
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if you end up making them, let me know what you think
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Also speaking for the Jewish community- they look fabulous! Especially for those that are gluten-intolerant they are a great solution!
As for the history of Purim: The Hamantaschen represent the “hat” or “ear” of the evil adviser Haman from Persia who had planned the destruction of the Jewish community. This king’s wife Esther was Jewish and her uncle Mordecai saved the community by revealing the plan to the king. In the end Haman was hanged and the community was saved. Every year Purim recalls the story of Queen Esther and Jews celebrate by dressing up into costumes, telling the story and exchanging “mishloach manot” to friends and family filled with Hamantaschen, sweets and goodies. It’s a fun holiday and your cookies do them justice! Fillings for Hamantaschen differ in different communities. Traditional fillings include prunes, dried fruit, poppy seed and jam.The latest trend here is chocolate spread, lotus spread. The important element is the shape- fillings are for the imagination.
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Thanks for sharing the story 🙂
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These look great. Do you have a suggestion of what to substitute the almond flour with? I’m allergic. Would it be ok to just use more coconut flour? Thanks!
PS: I’m Jewish and have been looking for Gluten-free hamantaschen. So excited to try these!!
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Hi Jodi,
Coconut flour works completely different. It is very dry and it crumbles easily. You can run sunflower seeds through a coffee grinder to make a flour that can be used just as almond flour.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I used the sunflower seeds and they came out delicious!
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Great to hear!!!!
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these are absolutely fabulous but fall apart easily. wish I knew how to get them to hold a bit better withoug taking away from taste. Would love to know calories and nutritional info.
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