Vegan hamentaschen from Tel Aviv hotspot Meshek Barzilay
Israel has the most vegans per capita of any country. So it’s only fitting that, just in time for Purim, the chefs at Tel Aviv vegan eatery Meshek Barzilay have whipped up some dairy free hamentaschen — and shared the secret with Forward readers. Toss a batch in the oven for the vegans in your life!
Ingredients
Dough
- 270 grams whole wheat flour
- 60 grams almond flour
- 4 grams salt
- 105 grams cane sugar
- 90 grams coconut oil
- 100 grams canola oil
- 60 grams apple sauce
Poppy Seed Filling (Pereg)
- 2 cups of ground poppy seed
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. Combine all dough ingredients in a food processor outfitted with a blade. Pulse to combine, then process until completely combined and homogeneous, until the dough forms a ball. 3. Transfer dough to a plastic bag, or wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least half an hour, up to several days (For longer storage, freeze, completely sealed and wrapped, for up to two months. Defrost in the fridge.) 4. Meanwhile, bring all filling ingredients to a boil and then simmer for ten minutes, stirring often. 5. Removede a quarter of the dough from the fridge at a time. Roll out on a floured surface until the dough is 1/8 inch thick. 6. Cut out circles using a circular cookie cutter or wine glass, 2 1/5 inches in diameter. Transfer the rounds to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can re-roll dough scraps in order to cut more circles. 7. Brush the tops of the rounds with water using a pastry brush, about 12 at a time. 8. Using two spoons, drop a small amount of filling on the center of each round. Avoid overfilling the cookies. 9. Shape the cookies by pinching the dough together, making one corner of the triangle at a time. Pinch and press the seams together well, or else they will open, making very tasty but very flat cookies. If the dough doesn’t stick together well, brush more water around the edge of the round. 10. Fill the parchment paper-lined tray with cookies. They don’t grow, so you don’t have to leave much room at all, approx 20 cookies/half sheet tray. Transfer the tray to the fridge until the cookies are firm and cool. You can freeze the cookies at this point – freezing them flat on the tray, then transferring them to a container or sealed bag. 11. When the cookies are firm, bake them for 10-14 minutes, until just barely golden, rotating the trays after five minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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