A Gluten-Free Purim - Hamantaschen Recipes and Mishloach Manot Ideas

This post is admittedly a bit late (Purim starts Thursday night) but I've been in the Bay Area with my partner for the past week and a half doing anything but blogging.

Here are some links for your enjoyment:

GLUTEN-FREE HAMANTASCHEN RECIPES

My own delicious recipe for cakey, no-refined-sugar gluten-free hamantaschen can be found here.

I posted it last year around Purim and it's been a big hit. You can see reviews of the recipe on Recipezaar, too. I've become more strict about only using products with reliable kosher supervision, so I no longer use Pamela's Baking Mixes. However, Pamela's mix works amazingly in this recipe. If you are dairy-free, want the recipe to be pareve, or only use hekshered products, you should feel free to use another gluten-free baking mix of your choice.

About.com's Celiac Disease page just published this recipe for hamantaschen that uses cream cheese in the dough. Looks like a tasty dairy option.

Two other options are this recipe from the Jewish-Food listserve (adapted from a Chabad recipe) and these fascinating hamantaschen from Elana's Pantry, which are both grain-free and dairy-free.

IDEAS FOR GLUTEN-FREE MISHLOACH MANOT

One of the wonderful traditions for Purim is mishloach manot. These are gift baskets of at least two different types of food that Jews are required to deliver to friends and family. What to do if you're making mishloach manot for gluten-free folks? Here are some ideas of things to include in your gift baskets:

• Homemade gluten-free hamantaschen (see above for recipes)
• Small bottle of kosher grape juice
• A bottle of wine
• Gluten-free candy (AllergyGrocer.com marks clearly which of their candies are kosher and this PDF file has a comprehensive GF candy list)
• A box of storebought gluten-free cookies
• Nuts - Stick to the unflavored kinds unless you can verify they're gluten-free.
• Jar of olives or pickles
  
• Fruit
• Potato or corn chips (check the ingredients)
  
• A nice artisanal kosher cheese (anything but blue cheese should be safe).

Have a wonderful and wild Purim!

...And if you're Jewish and have food allergies and/or gluten intolerance or other food restrictions, come join us on the AllergicJews listserve, where we discuss everything from the halacha (laws) of gluten-free challah to recipes for nut-free charoset.