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Did you know that “sugar” and “Haman” come from the same Persian root word?
Just kidding. That’s not true.
In our household, sugar is as big of an enemy as Haman is. We “Boooo!” to both. This year, celebrate Purim to the fullest with these delicious – and incredibly healthy – all date Hamantashen while maintaining that Queen Esther figure.
Living a Sugar-free Lifestyle
A few years ago, my husband and I did Whole30 for the first time right after Passover. It was really difficult for us, but the results were incredible. Although the goal of Whole30 isn’t necessarily to lose weight, my husband lost over 10 pounds and for the first time in a long time we felt healthy.
It was such a life-changing experience for us that my husband has continued trying his best to avoid sugar (booo!) at all cost. You never realize how much sugar is in everything until you start reading ingredients. Oy vey. We can’t avoid sugar 100% of the time (because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love my Challah recipe?) but we really do try our best.
Whole30 is now a part of our annual rhythm. Right after Passover when we’ve already gone without eating bread for a week is when we do another Whole30. This year is going to be our fourth time.
Pin now – bake later!
But Cookies Tho
The best gift to give during Purim is food – much like every Jewish holiday. And the Hamantaschen cookies are the best part!
I’m a little bit more relaxed about consuming sugar (although I shouldn’t be), so when we walk into a Purim celebration I have no shame hitting up that cookie table and taste testing each one. My husband on the other hand, looks at the triangle-shaped sugar-filled cookies like each one is evil Haman himself. Then he gets really sad watching everyone eat their cookies and feels like he can’t take part in the celebration with them.
Who knew one could feel such rejection from a cookie.
Because seeing husband-frownie-faces are sad, I came up with an all-date Hamantaschen on the fly so my husband could enjoy celebrating the holiday both Haman and sugar-free. (and gluten-free, too!)
I hope you enjoy!
Step #1: Make Date Jam
Note: Before you try this recipe, I want to point out that these cookies aren’t very sweet, but they do have a great taste! So if you have a really sweet palette these cookies might not be the right ones for you.
First, make homemade date jam. It’s super easy. Pit the dates, put them in a pot of water until it boils, and boil them for ten minutes until they’re soft. When you boil dates the skin comes off of them and they look disgusting. Don’t let that stop you!
After they’re soft, drain the dates in a strainer. DO NOT run more water over them. You don’t want to lose too much of the natural date syrup they create by being boiled.
After you strain them, let them cool for about ten minutes because they’ll be super hot. Then, put them into a food processor. Add 1 tsp of vanilla (this is for 2lb. Of dates, so if you use fewer dates, use less vanilla) and process everything together until you can a jam-like consistency. Take a taste-test to see if it needs more vanilla.
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Let the date jam cool off in the fridge while you make the dough. It’ll be easier to fill the cookies when the jam is cooler.
Step #2: Date Cookie
If you already have a favorite cookie recipe you like to use and want to fill it with the sugar-free date jam, girl – do your thing. Here’s what I did to make an all-date Hamantaschen.
Instead of using sugar, I used Date Silan (syrup) from Israel. There’s nothing like eating the fruit of the land! I bought this date silan from Blessed Buy Israel here. When you buy products from Blessed Buy Israel you help support the families and small businesses in Israel which I am all about doing.
Recently, someone asked me if they can use Date Sugar instead of date syrup because they couldn’t find it in stores locally. It was also too close to Purim order any silan online and have the cookies made in time. I went ahead and tried the recipe with date sugar, making a few adjusments along the way and sadly, they didn’t turn out as good. I still highly recommend using Date Silan!
I mixed all of the ingredients together by hand until it formed a dough (ingredients listed below). Of course, the date syrup is liquid so I had to add a lot more flour than I usually would. So if you think your dough is still too soft, slowly add more flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-free flour.
Step #3: Assemble the Cookies!
Once your jam has cooled and your dough is made, it’s time to start assembling your cookies. This is the fun part, so be sure to include your children!
Note: The dough is easier to work with at room temperature. If it’s too cold, it will crack when you fold up the sides to form the triangle – Haman’s hat!
Roll some dough out and use whatever circular utensil you have to cut a circle in it. In my home, we use mason jars as water glasses so that’s what I used. Cut as many circles in each rolled out piece of dough that you can.
Take a small spoon and put some jam in the middle of it. Fold the corners like so until it forms a triangle.
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After you’ve made as many cookies as you can from the dough, put them on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper, spray some non-stick stuff, and pop those babies in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until you notice them start to brown. The cookies ARE brown, so you watch them closely to make sure you don’t overcook them.
And now, my friends, open up your Bibles (we read this translation) to the book of Esther and read it out loud with your family while you all eat cookies together! Happy Purim!
Ingredients
Date Cookie
- 1 lb bag Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup Date syrup
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 3 Eggs
Date Jam
- 2 lbs Dates, pitted
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Date Jam
- Boil dates, drain, and put into a food processor with vanilla. Blend until it's a jam-like consistency. Set aside in fridge.
Date Cookies
- Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Fold into a dough. If still too wet (because of the syrup) keep adding flour until it turns into a dough.
- Roll out dough and cut into circles. I use mason jars!
- Put jam into the center and fold into triangles.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until you notice them start to brown. The cookies ARE brown, so you’ll have to watch them closely so you don’t over-cook them.