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Though I’m not Jewish, I am hooked on hamantaschen. This gluten-free, vegan recipe is so rich and buttery that you really can’t believe there is no butter. The star of the show is the orange marmalade, whose tart sweetness pairs so well with the delectable crust of the cookie. This recipe is a go-to for me, and I plan on making it often, with all different kinds of fillings (I’ve made the same jam recipe with raspberries, and it was heavenly in these cookies). The options are endless!
Do yourself a favor and try this recipe out, even if you don’t typically eat gluten-free. The recipe I used for the dough is this one from Elana’s Pantry. I basically stuck to it, but made a few minor tweaks and also baked two batches testing out different ingredients, so I’ll write out what I did.
Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen
Ingredients
Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen
- 2 cups blanched almond flour it is recommended you use a very fine grain almond flour; I use Honeyville brand
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt I lessened the salt just slightly, as the first batch was a little too salty
- 2 tablespoons vegan shortening or olive oil I used shortening the first time, and it turned out buttery and rich, but the next day, the cookies were a bit too soft from all the heaviness; the second time, I used olive oil and they were a little less heavy and stayed better the next day
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup didn’t notice much difference between the two, but maple syrup is more vegan-friendly
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
Orange Marmalade:
- 2 cups of oranges which turned out to be 2 large navel oranges, peeled and divided
- 1/2 cup of honey
- Juice of 1 small lemon about 2 tablespoons
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Instructions
Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen:
- Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, and the liquid ingredients in a small bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- The dough will be a bit crumbly, but that’s okay.
- Mold it into a big ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Orange Marmalade:
- Peel the oranges and divide them into wedges. You can break each wedge in half to make smaller pieces. Place the oranges in a food processor and process until blended but still slightly coarse.
- Place the oranges into a heavy frying pan. Turn the heat on high until the liquid starts to bubble. Turn down to medium low and let it simmer and cook down for a bit, about 5 minutes.
- Add the honey and stir well. Let this simmer for 15-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir it every once in a while so it doesn’t burn.
- Around 20 minutes or so, I turned the heat up to medium. The mixture should reach 220 degrees, and I used a cooking thermometer to measure this. As explained in the post in the link, you can also easily do this by feel. The liquid will start sticking together more, and when you stir, it will be slower to fill in the empty spaces.
- After it reaches this point, remove it from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Let it cool and it will thicken up some more.
- Now that your orange marmalade is ready, the hour should almost be up for the dough. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- After taking the dough out of the fridge…
- Place it on a piece of parchment paper and place another piece on top. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to between 1/2 – 1/4 inch thick. I found it easier to keep it slightly thicker.
- Use a circular cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. Place a dollop of marmalade in the center of the circle, and then pinch the corners up to make three points. Squeeze these points together well to keep the cookies from opening up in the oven.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake them for 8-15 minutes. My oven took about 13-15 minutes during the second batch with the olive oil instead of the shortening (it was around 9-10 minutes with the shortening). I’ve also found my oven takes a bit longer to cook things, so just check on the cookies and take them out when the corners and edges are getting golden brown.
- These beauties are best served warm. The next day, you can always pop them in the oven for a few minutes at 350 degrees or less (I put them in as the oven is preheating) and enjoy them with your morning coffee or tea! And if you have leftover marmalade, it would be good on toast or crackers or just eating straight by the dang spoonful!
