Currants and apples, perfumed with lemon rind and vanilla bean, enrobed in an almond flour dough make an incredibly decadent combination in this paleo cookie recipe. These low-carb, gluten-free Hamantaschen are delicious after they’ve come out of the oven and cooled a bit, but just as good in your shaloch manos baskets!
The Book of Ester
Purim is recorded in the Book of Ester and dates back to 600 BCE. At that time, a number of Jews lived in Babylonia under Persian rule. Haman, an adviser to the King of Persia, Achasverus, plotted to kill all Jews. Instead, Esther and her brother Mordechai thwarted these plans with the help of divine intervention.
The Story of Purim
Rather than becoming the victims of evil decree, the Jews were allowed by the King to hang Haman. The day after his killing was designated as a day for feasting and rejoicing, the festival known as Purim.
Shaloch Manos? What’s That!
During Purim friends and families exchange shaloch manos, the literal translation means “send gifts.” Typically we exchange baskets of food and bake cookies called Hamantaschen that we include in them.
What Are Hamantaschen?
Hamantaschen, literally means Haman’s pocket in Yiddish. In Hebrew, these three-cornered cookies, little triangles stuffed with sweet filling, are called Oznai Haman, or Haman’s ear. Alternatively, it is thought that Hamantaschen represent the three-cornered hat Haman wore. I love making gluten-free Hamantaschen every year when we celebrate Purim!
Hamantaschen
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 cup currants
- 1½ cups water
- 2 apples, peeled, cored, chopped
- 1 whole vanilla bean
- 6 slivers lemon rind
- 1 cup dried apricots, chopped in quarters
Dough
- 3 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a vitamix, on high speed, puree currants and water until smooth
- In a saucepan, combine currant mixture, apples, vanilla bean, lemon, and apricots
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft, about 35-45 minutes
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour and salt
- In a small bowl, mix together oil, egg, agave, and vanilla
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Flatten dough into small circles
- Scoop one teaspoon of filling into each circle
- Fold dough in to create a triangle, pinch corners firmly
- Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown
- Cool for 30 minutes
- Serve
Equipment
Low-Carb Gluten-Free Hamantaschen
Traditionally Hamantaschen are made with white flour and sugar, creating a gluten-filled, high-carb cookie stuffed with an overly sweet, very high-glycemic prune or poppy seed paste. My gluten-free Hamantaschen recipe is low-carb and so not off limits if you’re on a Low-Carb Diet.
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More Low-Carb Hamantaschen Recipes
Here are some of my other Hamantaschen recipes for you!
Maryann says
Wow, I couldn’t be more surprised to find a recipe for Hamantaschen. I bought these little goodies many years ago from a Jewish bakery and absolutely loved them! The place is too far away from me now so finding this site is a treat in itself! I’ll have to keep the number made to a minimum, because I’ll eat them all! Thank you!
Elana says
Ya’ara-That sounds amazing! So creative. Please let me know your recipe. I would love to try it out!
Heidi-Thanks for your comment. Nothing over here is “icky sweet” (I like that term) as I don’t do well with overly sweet foods and have pretty much weaned myself from them over the years and lost all taste for “icky.” :-) I hope you enjoy the hamantaschen if you make them!
lifeinrecipes says
I’ve never really enjoyed hamantaschen, maybe because I’ve never had a great one. Since I love anything made with almond flour your version looks very delicious, and the filling is so natural looking and I’m guessing not icky sweet. Super blog!
Heidi
Ya'ara says
Hi Elana,
Eventually I came up with a recipe of my own, where the dough is based on the poppy seed filling, and as a Filling I used almond flower.
It came out beautifully!
Happy Holidays!
Ya’ara
Elana says
Ya’ara -Let me know how your Oznei Haman turn out with the prune filling. Purim Sameah!
Lital -Glad you found this recipe and thanks for stopping by!
Emma Leigh – You are welcome; it is my pleasure.
Meena -If you decide to try them, let me know how you like this Purim treat.
Hannah – Yes, I think the almond flour works very well for GF cookies, it holds together well, has a nice texture and is much higher in nutrients than the other GF flours. Let me know how you like them when you try out the recipe!
Hannah says
Elana, thanks so much for posting this! We tried to make gluten-free hamantaschen last year with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and they really left a lot to be desired–almond flour sounds like a much better option, and it’ll be exciting to try them out this week!
Meena says
These look great Elana! It was wonderful reading all about Hamantaschen, hope you and your family have a great festive celebration!
emma leigh says
thank you for explaining Purim. =)
i hope you and your family have a great & delicious holiday. these look yummy!
lital says
Hey Elana,
It so funny, I was just looking for new recipes for Hamantaschen… well, we call it “Haman’s Ears” but it’s the same thing :) any way, here you are with a new one for me :) I’ve never tried it with almond flour before, but I’m sure it’ll come out great.
thank you and happy Purim :o)
Ya'ara says
Hi Elana,
These looks great!!
I hope I have time to make these this year, although I’m sure I’ll use a poppyseed filing
Purim Sameah!