The Jewish festival of Purim is upon us again, and along with Purim comes the tradition of baking, sharing and enjoying Hamentaschen, the  triangular cookies filled with yumminess in the center that can range from traditional fillings of prune or poppyseed all the way through apricot, strawberry, chocolate and even Mars Bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!

I have recently been experimenting with plant-based recipes and have discovered a miracle ingredient that most of us keep in our homes and normally gets thrown down the drain:  Aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid that is in the can of chickpeas and that people normally discard. I learned from a friend that Aquafaba is a fantastic egg substitute for use in recipes that call for eggs, so I have started experimenting with it.

• Three Tablespoons of Aquafaba is the equivalent of 1 egg.
• Aquafaba can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.

I decided to test it out in the traditional Hamentaschen dough that I use. As many already know, My usual dough recipe is actually the recipe of Norene Gilletz Z”L who recently passed away. Basic Oil Dough and can be found in any of her (three) processor cookbooks including the latest edition:  The NEW Food Processor Bible: 30th Anniversary Edition (Whitecap).

Note: If you wish to see the original recipe which is NOT plant-based, click here.

Below is the recipe, modified to be plant-based. I am going to take the liberty of calling it:

Norene’s Basic-Oil Dough …with a Plant-Based Twist.

1 medium seedless orange (quartered but NOT peeled)
6 Tbsp Aquafaba ( the liquid drained from canned chickpeas)
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil ( I use canola)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 3/4 c. flour

• Using steel knife, process orange until fine (about 25 sec.)
• Add Aquafaba, sugar , oil. Process just 10 sec.
• Add baking powder & flour. Process with several on/off turns – just until flour blended into dough-DO NOT OVERPROCESS. Dough will be fairly sticky.
• Remove from bowl with a rubber spatula onto a lightly floured board
• Divide dough into 4 pcs.
• Flour each & roll to 1/4″ thickness
• Cut into 3″ circles & place a spoonful of filling in each
• Bring sides upwards to meet & pinch together to form triangle
• If desired brush with egg wash (egg yolk blended with 1 tsp water) (I skip this step & they still come out great!)
• NOTE: They freeze well

Filling

My own filling recipe is rather simple but often simple is best 🙂

Dried Fruit (for pitted prunes-check to make sure all actually pitted,)
Boiling water

• Rehydrate fruit with boiling water (about 10-15 minutes)
• Put rehydrated fruit in processor, reserving water
• Puree fruit in processor (or blender)
• Add water a little at a time to soften puree to desired consistency

Some examples of what I use:

• Pitted Prunes, or
• Dried apricots, or
• Dehydrated strawberries
• (2 1/2 – 3 c. dried prunes will yield approximately the right amount of filling for this recipe)

To all those celebrating: Happy Purim!  To everyone who is or who is not celebrating…Hope you enjoy the hamentaschen!!!

Have a glorious day!

Tanya