The Perfect Vegan Hamantaschen Recipe

Bet you didn’t know Queen Esther (in the story of Purim) was actually vegan! Neither did we til we read this article which claims while Esther lived with the King of Persia, she ate “beans, seeds, and peas in order to stay kosher – so she was vegan by default!” Whichever way you swing on the plant-based continuum, you’ve definitely upgraded your sweets routine by now from white sugar to alternative sweeteners whenever possible. Since it’s likely young children will be imbibing these by the fistfull, why not swap sugar for maple syrup and maintain the deliciousness! Today’s recipe comes from one of our favorite online vegan bakeries, Vegan Divas NYC!

Serving: approx. 20 pieces
Ingredients (dough):

- 1.5 cups organic unbleached spelt flour* (see tip)
- 1/4 cup maple or agave syrup
- 2/5 cup canola oil
- 2 tbs rice milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1tbs cornstarch
- 1 tbs xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- raspberry jam (filling) – 1tbs/piece
- 1 tbs confection sugar (optional)

Tip*: Make your own flour blend with spelt flour and oats flour (50/50). The oats flour is delicious and gives the perfect taste and texture to your hamantaschen.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°
Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, xanthan gum and salt. Stir together vanilla extract, canola oil, maple syrup and milk a small bowl. Mix the content of each bowl together and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Place a ball of dough onto clean surface and use a rolling pin to flatten until it’s about ⅛” thick.
Use a 3” circular cookie cutter (a jar lid works well) to cut the dough into circles.
Place a tablespoon of raspberry jam in the center of each circle. Gently fold the sides in to create a triangle and pinch the corners.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place hamantaschen on sheet.
Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until edges are slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Sprinkle with confection sugar (optional).
Enjoy!

Fernanda Capobianco is the owner of Vegan Divas. A journalist and native of the meat Country Brazil, Fernanda previously managed and owned The Payard Restaurant and Pastry shops in Rio de Janeiro. Fernanda (a vegan of 15+ years) then developed unique recipes for delicious pastries and mousses free of eggs and sugar and opted to use healthier all-natural organic & fresh ingredients. Thus Vegan Divas was born! These products are available in the best grocery stores in NY and are also shipped across the Country through their E-commerce website.