Hamentaschen
Hamentaschen are a special triangle-shaped cookie that we (the Jewish people) eat during the holiday of Purim. You can fill hamentaschen with any filling you want- raspberry or apricot preserves, sweet poppy seeds, marzipan, chocolate, you name it. I made raspberry hamentaschen this time around, but use this dough recipe and make them your own!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) of unsalted butter; room temperature
3/4 cups of granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp of whole milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of flour- you will probably need an extra 1-2 tbsp if your dough is sticky
1 heaping tbsp of orange zest
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Jam or filling of your choice
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add in the egg, vanilla, lemon zest and milk and mix again until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mixer slowly to the wet ingredients. You can do this part by hand or switch to the paddle attachment of your stand mixer. If the dough is too sticky (won’t get off your hands) add more flour to the dough, tablespoon by tablespoon.
Move the dough from the bowl to some plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least 1-2 hours or, even better, over night.
Preheat your oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Once the dough is cold and holds its shape, roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. You might need to sprinkle your work top with some extra flour. Using a round cookie cutter or cup, cut out circles and place the circles on the prepped baking sheets. Place your filling in the middle of the circle (about a tsp of filling per cookie) and then pinch the circle to make a triangle.
Make sure the tips of the triangle are tightly sealed shut so they won’t burst open in the oven.
Optional step: Place your trays of cookies in the freezer for 10 minute or in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so they keep their shape in the oven.
Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Transfer the cookies to a cooling wrack and serve once they have cooled down completely.
Happy Purim!