I think I could write paragraphs upon paragraphs about my love for Hamentaschen. But I promised my followers this wouldn't be one of those food blogs where people have to scroll down for 5 minutes to find the recipe. So I'll try to be brief. I love Hamentaschen. I would take them any day over most classic Jewish Holiday foods. They easily beat out sufganiyot, latkes, and honey cake. If I stop and think about it, I'm not sure why I like them so much. If I look at each part of this cookie, it's kind of mediocre. The dough is kind of crumbly and usually I like a thick, chewy, chocolate-chip-cookie-dough kind of dough. The ratio of dough to filling is kind of off too. The effort required to make the dough and then cut out circles and fold them make them high maintenance. But for some reason, with all the parts put together, these cookies just rock.
For the most part, I no longer crave sweets and baked goods. I've sat at many holiday meals in the last year and didn't feel bad or left out when everyone indulged in desserts. I really believe that nothing tastes as good as feeling healthy, and I know for me personally that refraining from gluten and sugar-loaded treats keeps my body feeling its best. But for some reason I don't think that way with hamentaschen. They might taste better than feeling healthy. But I don't think I should have to choose one over the other. So here's a recipe for hamentaschen that are pretty good for being gluten free. I don't ever appreciate being lied to by food bloggers who tell me that some gluten free or sugar free treat tastes exactly like the real thing. Gluten helps the texture of baked goods be much more chewy and thick and seamless. Without it, the texture is slightly off. So these are pretty good for being gluten free Hamentaschen.
Ingredients:
115 grams (1 and a half sticks) of butter
1/3 cups sweetener*
2 eggs, (but 1 is for coating the dough with eggwash)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups gluten free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour)
chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate bar (I used enjoy life dark chocolate morsels and a Lindt 90% cocoa chocolate bar. Neither are completely sugar free. If you want completely sugar-free, I recommend Lily's chocolate chips)
*Depending on your body's sugar tolerance and your goals you, you can opt for a natural sweetener like honey or pure maple syrup (which contains more sugar) or a low calorie sweetener like monkfruit or allulose (won't affect your blood sugar as much.)
Instructions:
In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter until light and soft. Add sugar and cream together.
Add 1 egg and vanilla.
Add flour and salt.
Roll out the dough until it's flat, about a quarter inch thick. Wrap in plastic and freeze for 20 minutes. This will help it hold its shape.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
Using a cup or round cookie cutter, cut out circles from the dough.
Place chocolate in the center of the circle.
Fold the circle so that there are 3 edges and the cookie is in a triangular shape.
Brush the dough with eggwash.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking them at 15 minutes.
Eat them ad d'lo yada (but not really, because your liver doesn't need that)