Knishes (can be vegan, kosher)

Alright, I lied about not making anything anytime soon. Turns out I can't stand the thought of only eating leftovers for a few days, so I have to make something new. And, fitting in with the whole Jewish theme of the past few days, it's knishes. I love knishes. And I haven't had one in a long time (right? Dana?) and I couldn't find a recipe for them that was gluten-free, besides Gluten-free Bays, and hers uses a Chebe mix (which I don't have). I found this great step by step, illustrated guide for making regular, gluten-y knishes, and after pouring over the knish posts, decided I had to give it a try. 

And oh my gosh, am I glad I did. The smell while they were cooking was tantalizing, and it took all my willpower not to try to eat them the second they came out of the oven. The dough is perfect and flaky and a little buttery, and the potato filling a smooth and delicious. 

I'd love to try them with some cheese, and more onion next time for sure. Also I want to try using the crust (which is sooooo easy) for things like pie crust, I'd love to be able to make a vegan pie. 

Knishes

Dough

Recipe based off of Bureka Boy's amazing knish post. 

1 c plus 1 T rice flour mix

1 t xanthan gum

a pinch of salt

1/2 c frozen margerine (I used butter, I'm not kosher, if you're vegan/DF you can use shortening)*

1/4 c cold seltzer

2 t cidar vinegar

*I only froze it for about 20 minutes

Filling

your choice, but I made the lazy, lazy version-

1 1/3 c water

2 T butter, or oil if youre kosher or vegan

big pinch of salt

1 1/3 c instant potato flakes 

ground pepper (to taste)

1/2 t or more garlic and onion powders

2 T milk, or water, to thin 

1 egg (optional)

Pulse the rice flour mix, xanthan gum, salt and butter in the food processor until crumbly. Mix together the seltzer and vinegar, and pour in 1 T at a time, while pulsing, until the mix comes together. I accidentally added too much, so I added another T of flour so the dough wasn't sticky anymore. Sprinkle flour mix (or rice flour) on a sheet of wax paper, put half your dough on it, and sprinkle with a little more flour, then form it into a ball. Press flat, wrap up in wax paper, and stick the wax paper dough disk in the freezer. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Let sit in the freezer for about a half an hour (I let mine go an hour and it was too frozen, just let it thaw out a bit), and prepare the filling.

Boil the water with the butter and salt. Shut off the burner, mix in the potato flakes, and then the pepper and garlic and onion powders. If it seems too thick, add milk or water or a little more oil. Taste, adjust seasonings. Add egg, beat in, and let the mixture cool fully. 

 Take out the first dough packet. Open up wax paper, put another sheet on top (so dough is sandwiched between two sheets of paper, and roll out to about the size of a piece of paper. Make a line of about half the filling along the long side of the dough, and using the wax paper as a guide, roll the dough as tightly as you can around the filling. 

Pinch to seal the ends, then with a knife mark the dough into sixths. Cut into slices, arrange on a baking sheet, and carefully pinch the tops closed. I had to take out some of the filling from a few to do this (I get overzealous filling things). Preheat the oven to 350, and take the other dough out of the freezer, and repeat. Don't worry if the sides break as you're forming it on the cookie sheet. It'll taste the same. 

Brush with an egg wash (beat an egg, rub it on top), then bake for about 45 minutes. Makes a dozen small knishes.