Hamantaschen

Makes: ~3 dozen

Prep Time: 3 hours + 30 min

Cook Time: 15 min per batch

Hamantaschen are a Jewish, triangle shaped and sweet filled pastry that celebrates the holiday of Purim. Purim is a holiday to celebrate the defeat of Haman, an enemy of the Jewish people as written in the Book of Esther. They can be filled with sweet or savory fillings, typically: poppy seeds, prunes, dates, raisins, apple, cherry, fig, chocolate, caramel, and cheese. It's the dealer's choice!

Ingredients

For the Dough

1 egg

1 egg yolk

3 ¾ cup all purpose flour

1 ½ cup confectioners sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 cup plus 5 tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 ½ tsp grated orange rind

For the Filling

Jam, of your choice

Chocolate, of your choice, in small shavings/chunks (optional)

Instructions

For the Dough

1. Beat the egg with the additional yolk. Set aside.

2. Combine with flour, confectioners sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Blend briefly. Add in your cut up butter and mix until the mixture appears like a coarse meal.

3. Sprinkle with grated orange rind and pour the egg mixture in. Process again until the dough comes together. If the crumbs are too dry, sprinkle with 1 tbs of orange juice and process briefly. Repeat as needed.

4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly. Then place the dough in plastic wrap, and push together to form a flat disc. Refrigerate for 3 hours.

For the Filling:

You may fill with whatever you’d like: a sweet date mixture, jam with or with semi-sweet chocolate. For this recipe we used raspberry jam, and small chocolate shavings that we chopped from smaller chocolate chips.

For the Assembly

1. Use ¼ of the dough at a time. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface until about ⅛ inch thick. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into pieces.

2. Place 1 tsp of filling in the center and fold up the dough edges on 3 sides to create a triangle shape. You should leave a little view of the filling, so that the cookie isn’t fully sealed. Make sure that your edges are pinched to seal. Repeat until your dough and or cooking sheets are filled. Place on a greased baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 min before baking.

3. Bake at 375 degree Fahrenheit for 14 minutes or until they are lightly golden on the edges. Place on a cooling rack, and enjoy!

NOTE: The dough is very delicate and easily ripped, so move with caution while cutting the dough and folding it.

NOTE 2: We used muffin tins to place the mini hamantaschen in, so that they would keep their shape. If that is too much to consider, you may use a different cookie recipe for the dough, and create triangle treats of any size, but we find that these treats are best made with crumbly dough which unfortunately require a way to keep in form. Triangle scone tins are perhaps a better option.