אין מױל ארײן: Rice Flour Dough for Homentashn (Gluten-Free Hamentaschen)

A number of years ago I made this wonderful vegan and wheat-free dough (װעגאַנער גלוטנלאָזער טײג) to approximate wheat-free homentashn. It works for tartlets or thumbprint cookies, but did not have the rollability or non-crumple-ability for homentashn. After many assays into gluten-free baking, I think I finally have a rollable, pinchable, sealable, homentashnogenic dough recipe to be getting on with. You may use the flours I used, specified below, and I think it will probably be just fine with 20 ounces of any gluten-free flour blend. Just add the one teaspoon of xanthan gum. This is just enough to give the dough that desired malleability wit adding any gumminess to the taste or texture.

You can probably tell that this recipe owes a great deal to my beautiful friend Helen Gottesman Adelson of blessed memory. I think of her whenever I make her homentashn, or any homentashn at all. I substituted a whole orange for the orange juice to provide more of the full brown, sour, and bitter flavor we would otherwise get from wheat. Maybe you are thinking brown, sour, and bitter does not sound so great, but we do miss them when they're gone.

Rice-Flour (Gluten-Free) Dough for Homentashn

1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) sweet rice flour

1/2 (3 3/4 ounces) cup white rice flour

1/2 cup plus one tablespoon (4 1/2 ounces) potato starch (I happened to have this much. 1/2 cup will work fine).

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) chickpea flour (besan)

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) tapioca starch

1 teaspoon xanthan gum, if you have any

3/4 - 1 cup (6 1/2 - 7 1/2 ounces) sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces (1/2 cup) butter

one orange, peel, pulp, and pith, pulverized in a processor or blender

1 yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

about 1/4 cup water, as needed

Sift together the flours, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter and mix with the flat paddle or your fingers or a pastry blender to a fine meal. Add the yolk, orange pulp, and vanilla, and enough water to make a dough and chill until ready to roll.

The dough looked a little resistant at first but rolled out beautifully.