Jewish Hamantaschen Cookies Gluten Allergy Free Recipe 445

Steps:

• Stir dry ingredients into a large bowl. Using your fingers, work the butter, vanilla, and applesauce into the flour until it becomes a crumbled texture. Add 4 Tablespoons of ice cold water and combine by hand until water is absorbed. Be careful not to over-mix the dough. Form dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour or longer. After refrigeration period, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Break off half your dough, wrap and return the other half to the fridge to stay chilled. Begin rolling out the first half on a floured surface. Make sure to lightly add flour when needed to dough, to keep from sticking to your rolling pin. Roll out the dough as thin as possible, without creating holes - this is crucial. Cut circles into your dough using a 3-4" cookie cutter or a glass. Add a dollop of filling to the center of each circle. Dip your finger in the shallow dish of water and run it along the entire edge of the circle. This will help the dough to stick together when baking. Begin to fold your triangular shaped cookies. You can view a step-by-step photo here: http://www.keeleymcguire.com/2014/03/gluten-allergy-free-jewish-hamantaschen.html Fold in one side and lightly wet the corner, then repeat with the next side and so forth. Lightly pinch the edges, but make sure that you wet them - pinching alone will not work. Repeat the process of rolling out the dough, cutting, and filling, until complete. Bake for approximately 22-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Yields 22-24 cookies.

Steps:

• With an electric hand mixer, or in the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter or margarine with the agave nectar. Add the unbeaten egg, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and continue combining. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
• Slowly add the dry mixture into the liquid mixture. Mix until combined into a cohesive ball of dough. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
• Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Flour a counter or other surface thoroughly. Remove dough from refrigerator and immediately roll into a ball and roll the ball in flour before placing it on the floured counter. Roll out until 1/4" to 1/8" thickness. Using a juice glass or biscuit cutter, cut into 3-4" circles. Immediately move dough circles to parchment-lined cookie sheets. If the dough begins to stick to the counter, use a pastry scraper to gently transfer the disks of dough.
• Place approximately 1 teaspoon of filling (apricot preserves, lekvar, poppyseed filling, raspberry jam, etc) in the center of each circle. Using a pastry brush, apply well-beaten egg to the perimeter of each dough circle and immediately fold 3 sides of circle together so that the cookie becomes a triangle, and pinch corners to seal. Seal completely and firmly, using beaten egg so they do not come apart in baking. If you have trouble sealing the corners, try folding them over a bit. The final cookie should look like a triangle with the filling showing through only at the center.
• Use the remaining beaten egg to lightly brush the top of each pastry.
• Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden on top but not overly browned on the bottom (lift one cookie up after 12 minutes to make sure the bottom hasn't become dark brown). Let cool slightly before serving or transferring to cooling rack.