Here's a simple gluten free Hamantaschen recipe to celebrate Purim with the family. The gluten free flour makes the cookies light and crispy. Eat them up while telling the story of Esther and booing loud and long for Haman!
Preheat your oven to 350F/177C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Beat the 1 cup of butter and 3/4 cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the 2 eggs and 1 tsp. of vanilla extract. Mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix the 3 cups of gluten free flour, 2 tsps. baking powder, and 1 tsp. salt.
Add the dry mixture in one cup increments into the butter mixture until well combined. It will look like a typical, thick cookie dough.
Shape the Cookies
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is about an 1/8” - 1/4” thick. (.3cm - .6 cm). Using a biscuit cutter or the rim of a wide mouth jar, cut out circles from the dough. Remove any excess dough and set aside to roll out and cut from again.
Place 1 tsp. of your favorite jam in the middle of each cut circle. You can also use hazelnut spread, peanut butter, or even a piece of candy. Just be sure to not use jelly or any other sweetener that has a high water content or the filling will leak out all over the pan and burn.
Fold up each side into a triangle around the filling by pinching to create three “corners”. Pinch firmly, especially at the top of the inside corner (nearest the jam).
Place onto a cookie sheet with at least a 1/2” of space between - they’ll expand a little in the oven.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly golden and crispy on the edges.
Carefully slide the parchment paper off the baking sheet and place it onto a baking rack to cool and set up. The filling will thicken further as it reaches room temperature.
Notes
The gluten free version of Hamanstaschen has a slightly biscuit-type texture. This makes them flaky and crispy, which I love.
The wheat flour version is more like a shortbread cookie in texture.
Gluten free flour doesn't have the strength of wheat flour, so be sure to pinch at that inside corner really well to combine the two sides of the dough into one structure. They'll be less likely to collapse if you pinch those corners firmly.You may have some cookies collapse, but they're still tasty, so no worries!