Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

Raspberry Hamantaschen

Raspberry Hamantaschen

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 Recently I was paid a visit by the lovely Eve who not long ago gave up gluten and white sugar.  We had tea in my kitchen and chatted about things, oh, I don’t really remember what, just that we had such a pleasant time together.  It wasn’t really the content of our conversation (that was great), it was more about making a connection.

Eve emailed me yesterday asking for a gluten free Hamantaschen recipe.  While I do have this one from last year, I wanted to create something for Eve that was every bit as tasty, though maybe just a bit less fussy.  I do love my old Hamanataschen recipe, however, sometimes we want Hamantaschen express, also known as McHamantaschen.

And here it is!  Your drive through gluten free, dairy free treat for Purim.

Print Recipe
Raspberry Hamantaschen
Serves:will be dependent on the size of your cookies and thickness of your dough
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour and salt
  2. In a smaller bowl, combine shortening, honey, vanilla, and water
  3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
  4. Chill dough in refrigerator 1 hour
  5. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper ¼ - ½ inch thick
  6. Cut dough into circles (size of your choosing)
  7. Make a light indentation with your forefinger in the center of each circle
  8. Drop ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam into the center of each circle
  9. Fold the dough in to create 3 sides; pinch each of the 3 corners to form a triangle shaped cookie
  10. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes until cookies are golden brown around the edges
  11. Serve

I used a scalloped cookie cutter that was 1 ¾-inches in diameter and rolled my dough to approximately ¼ inch thick; my yield was around 2 dozen little cookies.  It was challenging to get an exact yield as my younger son was eating these almost as fast as I baked them.

Tonight, my older son and I sat and discussed the ingredients list and method for this recipe.  He was not happy that I did not have an exact measurement for the raspberry jam.  I don’t. Again, that is really dependent on the size of your cookies and how much of a jam-a-holic you are.

We also talked about the corners of the Hamantaschen.  In some of the first batches I made, the corners opened up during baking.  To remedy this, I pinched them together while still warm and they looked just fine.

In later batches I pinched the dough very firmly and it did hold together during the baking process.  He and I were debating which adverb to use in order to describe how to pinch the dough.  His suggested phrase was, “pinch the dough a little bit more than tenderly.”  That’ll work for me!

Comments

  1. wow! Recipe looks delicious. I plan on making these for my father in law. I was comparing your two Hamantaschen recipes. The first one does mention an egg yet the second recipe does not. I plan on following the second recipe, since it’s easier. Just to be clear, there is no egg to be added for the second recipe, right ?

    Reply

  3. Just made these with my kiddos and they’re unbelievably easy and come out great. We like to put chocolate chips in the middle of some and jam in the others. Delish! Thanks for such an easy recipe!

    Reply

  6. Hi Elana, I am gluten intolerant & have candida (must eat low carb low sugar) your recipes all sound great for me however I cannot have agave, honey or maple syrup and I do not tolerate stevia unfortunately. Is there a way to use apple sauce, canned pumpkin or Splenda instead? How would I substitute for agave for example-? Thank you :)

    Reply

  7. Just took mine out of the oven; they taste fantastic AND look fantastic. The used coconut oil instead of grapeseed and used one tablespoon agave and one tablespoon honey. Yum!

    Reply

  8. I make your desserts at least once a week. It always tastes delicious but never looks as good as the picture. I guess I need a lot of practice and experiment too.
    Thank you for all your posts. I was used to live without cakes, cookies and breads but now I can have all of them without getting ill.

    Reply

  9. I made these a year or two ago using coconut oil (melted) rather than grapeseed oil and honey for the sweetener. They came out pleasantly reminiscent of macaroons – and I realized these would be great at Passover, too, in whatever shape one chose.

    Of course, other fillings work too. I made some cherry filling using canned sweet cherries (thickened with a bit of arrowroot, so liquid cooked down). They are also divine with a few Dagoba 73% chocolate drops.

    Reply

  10. Hi Elana,

    May I suggest “pinch the dough firmly,” thus saving yourself five words.

    The raspberry hamantaschen dough recipe looks delicious – though, I’ll substitute apricot jam.

    I found your recipe, after a search for gluten-free hamantaschen, as I do have celiac. Thank you so much for providing for those of us who do.

    Reply

  11. Dear Elana, I don’t know who I’m in love with more – your son or you. ‘A little bit more than tenderly’? He’s going to break someone’s heart soon!

    That is not the reason I’m writing. I wanted to tell you how I adapted your fantastic hamentaschen recipe this last Christmas. Yup. I’m not Jewish. But I have plenty of Jewish relatives, and I love the stories. That’s not it. I was coming up against my second Christmas without mince pies, having been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s 2 years ago.

    I am English. A Christmas without mince pies in England is a sad thing indeed. Too sad. I became determined. I looked up your website, and I used your hamentaschen recipe (minus the jam) as the tart base to fill up with my mother-in-law’s sugar-free mince pie filling. In tiny little muffin cases. They were a complete sensation. Truly. You saved me. Even she loved them.

    Thank you, Elana. You inspire me and, in dire moments, save me. As do your sons. x

    Reply

  15. I made these today for my kids and they turned out really delish. I used this dough although used the method from Elana’s other Hamantaschen recipe to roll into balls, flatten and fill. This dough is so versitile that we also made little “thumbprint” cookies by rolling the balls in unsweetened, shredded coconut, made a slight indentation in the middle and filled with a bit of jam. DELISH and so quick and easy. This dough would also make a nice base for a bar cookie as well. Love them! Thank you.

    Reply

  17. Hi, I am hoping to find a vegan, sugar free, almond flour marzipan cookie recipe. Sort of like the Hamanstachen recipe, with jam in the center. Could I just add almond paste in place of some of the grape seed oil? Thanks!

    Reply

  20. I made these today for a book club meeting tonight. I was wondering if they harden when the cool or are they supposed to harden in the oven. They seem rather soft to me or is that how it is supposed to be? The corners are brown enough. Either way they are delicious I would just like to know which texture I’m supposed to expect? Also I used dark agave nectar and mine are on the dark side, not light like the photo – do you think that is the difference?

    Reply

  21. Here is a suggestion for shaping any difficult dough into reasonable looking hamantaschen:

    Take SMALL muffin tins and line them with small paper cups of the appropriate size. Then take a small lump of the dough, put it into a muffin cup and shape it along the bottom and a little up the sides with your finger or thumb. Put a small amount of the jam filling in the middle and then gently fold down the sides in three folds. Voila! You have a neatly contained cuplike hamantasch which will not overflow or have droopy collapsing sides. Bake and cool and remove from the paper cups and they look like normally constructed rolled dough hamamntaschen.

    from a challenged frustrated hamantaschen maker, no matter what the dough!
    Rochelle

    Reply

  23. Elana,
    I am preparing for Purim and came across your hamentaschen recipe. I notice that in this one there is no egg but in the one you posted in 2008 you used one egg. Any reason for the recipe change?

    Thanks.

    Ellen

    Reply

  24. Hi Elana,

    I tried this recipe, and although it was delicious and everyone loved the cookies, I feel like I struggled with the dough to get it to stick together. Picking up the circles and pinching the ends together, the dough would rip, and I did have the fall apart problems you mentioned above. Do you have any tips?

    Thanks!
    Anna

    Reply

  25. I am not gluten intolerant but diabetic and controlled by diet which means NO flour — after making 72 + dozen hamantachen ( which I can’t eat) I was wondering about using Almond flour and got your great recipe — So I substituted Waldon farms rasperberry spread (zero carbs) for jam and took out the agave nectar (used DaVinici sugar free Vanilla and Cocomut spyrups — I don’t use agave nectar as it is a fructose and can cause high triglicerides) but oh to have a hamantash that I can eat — Thank you!

    Reply

  27. I was so excited to try these, but became frustrated with my dough. I found it difficult to work with – too crumbly. (I’m using Honeyville almond flour.) Should I have added more water, honey, or oil? Also, how do you keep the parchment paper from sliding on the counter when rolling the dough?

    I ended up with one batch of flat thumbprint cookies and one batch of chocolate chip cookies (added chocolate chips and made drop cookies).

    -Gena
    Boulder, CO

    Reply

    • Hi Gina, I found the same issue with the dough… i added another teaspoon of agave nectar and grapeseed oil each and dipped my fingertips in water now and then when forming the cookies. also, my saving grace was figuring out how to use the rubber spatula to push/form the walls/sides of the cookies, one at a time, so they didn’t fall apart as much. really worked!

      Reply

  30. I usually have pretty good luck with baking, but I had some trouble with these. I made almond flour by toasting blanched almonds and then processing them to a powder. I thought that would be a viable substitution. Made rest of recipe as directed, but my dough would not stick together enough to make a cute triangle like yours. So sad. So, I just rolled the dough out and cut out small circles (like the size of a bite) and topped them with homemade applesauce thickened with a little cornstarch. Tastes fantastic…really really good, but they were UG-A-LEE! Sounds like everyone else who made them had great success, so it must have been my “flour”. Will try again with actual almond flour.

    Reply

  32. Elana –
    I had a sweet tooth today after reading a blog about Purim. What a treat to stumble across your recipe for gluten/dairy free hamantashen. AND the best part was that I had all of the ingredients in my house. I prefer high raw, but I made an exception to cook these tonight…What a great excuse! they were delicious. Now, if I could only stop eating them…

    Reply

  34. This is so wonderful! Purim is coming up and I am doing an Esther Bible study and wondered how I was going to be able to taste these fun treats with my gluten-free lifestyle!

    Thanks for sharing!! :)

    Reply

  35. Hi Elana,

    These look fabulous…and I just got my shipment of Honeyville blanched almond flour. Do you know whether these freeze well? My husband and I have a wedding to attend next weekend so we can’t eat that many cookies this week!

    Also, do you have any recipes for the poppy filling or prune lekvar? Those are our favorites, though raspberry jam and apricot or orange marmalade are awesome too!

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi,

      These are real ‘eye candy’. Once again, you’ve gifted us. Thank you.
      And:
      YES!!
      I too would love a poppy seed filling. Please!! Pleeeeeese!
      As to prune jam/lekvar: can sub it for the raspberry readily. Should be yum
      Even tho the holiday ends tonight, would love to find a way. Is it to simply cook w a sweetener?

      many thanks, again and again!

      Reply

  36. Elana,

    I am really enjoying your blog and your recipes. I am newly diagnosed gluten intolerant with multiple food allergies. Unfortunately, I have had to give up GF baked good because I am allergic to sodium bicarbonate (baking soda & baking powder). I had to give up my favorite pre-packaged GF baking/pancake mix because of this. The ingredients do contain stuff you do not eat, but you would you please help me recreate a recipe for “flat” pancakes from these ingredients?

    Package ingredients in order as listed: Brown rice flour; White rice flour; cultured buttermilk; natural almond meal; tapioca starch; sweet rice flour; potato starch; baking powder (can’t have); baking soda (can’t have); sea salt; xanthan gum.

    A big hearty “THANK YOU!” Elana. You are a blessing. ~Andrea

    Reply

  37. Thanks so much Elena — my Mom (Italian) makes her version (not gluten free) of these and sends them to my husband. He freezes them and sneaks them when I am not around — so I am so very happy to have a gluten free version that I can have — can’t wait to try them this weekend.

    As always, you are the best!!

    Theresa Watson
    Merritt Island, FL

    Reply

  38. I made these cookies last night and they are yummy! Not too sweet, just perfect with a cup of tea. Thanks Elana for your amazing creativity and your gift of passing recipes along.

    Reply

  39. Thanks for your comments. I am working on a chocolate version of these and hope to have the recipe up before Purim as I’ve had several requests for this on and offline.

    Reply

    • yay! can’t wait for the chocolate recipe!!! the one cookie I have been dying for since going gf, and purim’s just not the same without them :)

      Reply

  40. It is wonderful you created gluten-free, sugar-free cookies that are great. Would you mind to try it to make nuts-free as my son is allergic to all kind of nuts and seeds.

    Reply

  43. This looks sooo easy!! Well, at least it has very few ingredients!!! Love that part!!! Gotta get to the store and replenish my almond flour. Don’t have 2 cups :(((

    Looks very good!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

    Reply

  44. Hi Elana,

    I just wanted to say hello. I was given your name and info from your sister Dina, about a year ago. I know her through my good friend, Bay. I am just now finally truly committing to eliminating wheat from my diet. I am focusing on the wheat for now, although I imagine gluten is close behind. Trying to figure out if it is the wheat alone that makes me feel, or gluten too.

    I am enjoying your site very much so far, and will venture into actually baking some of these delicious looking items soon !

    I am thankful that you are doing this : )
    Lauren Purcell

    Reply

  46. Ohhh! Elana, I love your stories that go along with your YUM recipes :-) Your son is a gem!
    McHamantaschen! Love it! I am going to make these this weekend, as I just so happened to pick up some 100% fruit jam at the store earlier this week. I must’ve known :)
    I am wondering, why did you decide to give up dairy? I know some of your old recipes include dairy. Is this an allergy or just a health choice? I am allergic to dairy but my husband chooses not to eat it just because he feels better without it, rather than an allergy. (And he can’t say no to my homemade coconut milk ice cream!!) Yum. Have a nice day!

    Reply

  47. Taking requests??

    I would *love* some casseroles that are particularly kid friendly. (I searched for “casserole” in the “super natural recipe” cite you posted, and only came up with a dozen hits, most of them a bit too exotic for my boys, 2 & 4.)
    Something that I can make 4 of and freeze on Saturday, and have one meal a week for a month, setting it out to thaw in the morning, cooking as soon as I walk in the door (I have 1/2 hour between getting home from work with boys and boys-losing-it-from-hunger.) Every time I look at a “30 minute meals” type website or cookbook, the recipes are laden with dairy and wheat.

    Am I the only working-Mom-of-very-young-kids here?

    Thanks for listening!

    Reply

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