These gluten free hamantaschen cookies are traditionally served during the holiday of Purim. These are tender shortbread cookies made with a really good quality gluten free flour blend and simply filled with sweet fruit jam.
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A Little about Purim and Hamantaschen
Purim is upon us! The festival of fun and laughter, games and noise. I remember celebrating Purim when I was little in Jewish school. Now I like to create fun twists on the cookies, such as with my savory hamantaschen bar! How fun does that sound? For a sweet Jewish treat, try my Chocolate Matzo Toffee.
Hamantaschen is broken up into "Haman" which was the "Bad-guy" of the story of Purim and "taschen" meaning pockets. The story I remember when I was little was that the shape of the Hamantaschen cookie is a triangle shape because that was the shape of Haman's hat. We would make the cookies and eat them, rejoicing and in a sense, praising the destruction of the villain.
📋 Ingredients
⏲️ How to Make Hamantaschen
This recipe uses a good quality gluten free flour. I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour with great success.
Step 1. In a large stand mixer (or hand mixer), cream the butter until light and soft. Add sugar and mix together.
Step 2. Add 1 egg, vanilla and orange zest and mix well.
Step 3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour and salt and mix until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides making sure everything is incorporated well.
Step 4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface into a smooth ball, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Step 5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a ¼ inch in thickness.
Step 6. Use a 3-inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles. Save the scraps and knead and roll out again and cut out more circles.
Step 7. Take one circle and place a teaspoon of filling in the center.
Step 8. Take one side of the dough circle and fold in.
Step 9. Take the other side of the dough circle and fold in, forming the top of a triangle.
Step 10. Fold the last side of the dough up, forming a hamantaschen cookies and gently pinch the corners to seal.
Step 11. Place the hamantaschen on a lined baking sheet and brush each cookie with egg wash.
Step 12. Bake the hamantaschen cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until lightly golden brown, for about 22-25 minutes.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Chill the Dough: After forming the dough into a ball, place place the dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes or freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill the dough. This will make it easier to roll out and keep the dough together.
- Save the Dough Scraps: As you cut the dough circles, save the scraps, combine and roll out for more hamantaschen cookies.
- Chill the formed Hamantaschen: To prevent the cookies from opening while baking, chill the formed cookies for 15-20 minutes before baking. This will make sure the dough will hold together.
- Make the Dough Ahead: Dough can be made, wrapped in plastic wrap and froze for up to a month.
More Jewish Cookies to Try
Gluten Free Hamantaschen for Purim
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ⅔ cups sugar
- 2 eggs (1 for dough, another for egg wash)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest or lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour I used Red Mills All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
Various fillings: (Make sure GF if using)
- 1 cup fruit jam
Instructions
- In a large stand mixer (or hand mixer), cream the butter until light and soft. Add sugar and cream together.
- Add 1 egg, vanilla and orange zest and mix well.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
- In about 2 batches and with the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined and use a spatula to scrape down the sides making sure everything is incorporated well.
- Once mixed, take dough out and knead on a lightly floured surface until a smooth ball forms. Form the dough into a round, flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes or freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove dough from freezer or refrigerator and flour surface very well. Begin to roll out the dough and if the dough is too hard to roll, let it rest on the counter and pound with a rolling pin, if needed. This will help the dough create flexibility to roll out.
- Roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick and use a 3 inch round cookie cutter to cut out circles. Don't discard scraps, knead and roll out again to cut more circles.
- Take one circle and place a teaspoon of filling in the center. Take one side of circle and fold in. Take other side and fold in, bringing the top corners together.
- Pinch the corners and place the hamantaschen on a lined baking sheet. Whisk the other egg with a bit of water and brush egg wash onto hamantaschen cookies.
- Bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 22-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
- Let the cookies cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and serving.
Notes
- Chill the Dough: After forming the dough into a ball, place place the doiugh in the fridge for at least 20 minutes or freezer for 10-15 minutes to chill the dough. This will make it easier to roll out and keep the dough together.
- Save the Dough Scraps: As you cut the dough circles, save the scraps, combine and roll out for more hamantaschen cookies.
- Chill the formed Hamantaschen: To prevent the cookies from opening while baking, chill the formed cookies for 15-20 minutes before baking. This will make sure the dough will hold together.
- Make the Dough Ahead: Dough can be made, wrapped in plastic wrap and froze for up to a month.
Hana F says
Made these for my gluten-intolerant dad, and they turned out amazing! They also ended up looking better than the non-GF batch I made, as the dough is easier to work with.
Chag Sameach!
Samantha Ferraro says
Fantastic Hana, Thank you for the wonderful feedback. P.S. Hubby likes the GF Hamantaschen better that the Non GF. Samantha.
Lisa Schwartz says
I made these twice for Purim this year. They were amazing! My oven didn’t need as much time as the recipe called for. I just went by color. So delicious! 10/10
Samantha Ferraro says
Lisa, So glad to hear it was a 10/10! I do a cooking class at the Local Co-op and the oven is 25 to 50 Degrees off, so I get that "all ovens are not created equal". Hope your Holiday was wonderful, Have a great Weekend, Samantha.
Katie says
Do you know how these come to room temperature after freezing, once baked? Is the jam filling ok & the dough not soggy? (My daughter is hoping to make then for a class, but would like to make them ahead of time.) Thanks for any insight!
Samantha Ferraro says
Good Morning Katie, We have never frozen the Gluten Free Hamantaschen. My thought is that they "May" freeze differently than those with regular flour. However, now that you posed that great question we will do a freezing experiment with them in the future. Happy Holidays, I wish I had a real answer to your question. Samantha.
Katie says
Thank you for your reply! And I agree, Samantha! I'm not sure what to think, making me a bit hesitant to bake them & send them on for a group to use when they're ready for them. I look forward to checking back and finding what your team has found with freezing and eating after baking...and if I go for it prior, I'll let you know my findings, too!
Samantha Ferraro says
Fantastic Katie, Thank you so much, Samantha.
Marissa says
I tried making this dough but like other gluten free recipes, it just keeps cracking and breaking. Suggestions? Thanks!
Samantha Ferraro says
Hi Marissa, chill the dough prior to rolling it out. Bob's Red Mill gluten free has always worked. We are sorry your dough was cracking and breaking. Samantha.
E says
This recipe seems to be adapted from Tori Avey’s “Buttery Hamantaschen” recipe. Almost every single part of the recipe is the same except for gluten free flour instead of regular and kosher salt instead of regular salt. Her recipe was published in 2021 so before yours was published. Here is the link to the recipe: https://toriavey.com/buttery-hamantaschen/
Please add that you adapted this recipe from Tori Avey’s. Thank you.
Samantha Ferraro says
Hi E! Thanks for the message. Tori is a wonderful cook and baker and I've followed her for years. I have always had the "adapted by" linked in my recipe card, so it is there. It looks like we've both updated our recipe posts over the years, as that will change the date as well.
Yvette says
These turned out absolutely perfectly - they look exactly like in the picture on the recipe! I’m in Australia so used the metric equivalent and it’s a really great recipe. Thank you!
Samantha Ferraro says
Fantastic Yvette, Anytime you make one of my recipes if you have time let me know how it turns out. Have a great weekend, Samantha.
Leah says
Hi! Can I use monk fruit sweetner to replace the sugar?
Samantha Ferraro says
Hello Leah, Unfortunately We have not yet used monkfruit sweetener. Why not do a blind taste test with sugar and the monkfruit first, see if the flavors are close. With that said, we have ordered some Monkfruit so that we might be more familiar with it. Thank you for the question, have a great week, Samantha.
Seven says
Great recipe! I almost never comment on recipes, but I wanted to let you know. I was looking for a gf recipe bc a family member recently went gf. Yours was the most similar to my old (and, yes KOSHER!!) family recipe, butter and all. (The dairy doesn't bother us since we're vegertarian, and my kitchen is dairy only anyway.) The dough was a little tricky to handle (only a little trickier than my regular), but they came out great. I filled them with (our family tradition) prune butter (steamed prunes, ground in a food processor with lots of cinnamon & cloves, plus a little of the steaming water) and apricot butter (same, but nutmeg instead of cloves). The thicker filling doesn't leak, even if the hamantaschen seal doesn't hold. Thanks!
Samantha Ferraro says
Fantastic Seven. Thank you so much for the feedback. Samantha.
Seven says
I also have to say that the comments that say "This recipe isn't kosher" were unnecessary! It is my opinion that, especially in the world today, there is NO such thing as a recipe that is inherently non-kosher. You can buy kosher "bacon", pareve "chicken", non-dairy "cheese", etc. If you change a recipe before preparing it, nobody is going to send the recipe police to your home to arrest you! I am willing to test this by admitting here that I made slight changes to the recipe to make it work for me. And is it even vaguely possible that ANYONE who keeps a kosher kitchen with separate meat and dairy doesn't know that there's a new (only about 100 yr. old) invention called margarine that can be used to replace butter? Insulting, name calling, and accusing are unnecessary. In fact, they are part of "sinat chinam" (baseless hatred) which we are told was the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple. In fact, we are required to "ladun l'kaf zchut" (give the benefit of the doubt, literally "judge from the perspective of innocence"). I assume the negative comments were written quickly before the comment writers had a chance to thoroughly consider their choice of words.
Samantha Ferraro says
Well said, we couldn't agree more. Some people are only fulfilled if they are objective. Thanks Seven. Samantha
hilary says
I love your recipe and have used it for years now 🙂 Use Cup4Cup and never have any issues with the dough (though it is hard at first it is workable after its out on the counter and really easy to re-roll.
Samantha Ferraro says
Hilary, So glad you make this recipe a part of your celebration. Samantha.