Purim Hamantaschen

Submitted by Mirj2338

"Some of the nicest traditions of Purim are the giving of gifts to the poor and the giving of gifts of food to friends and family. Purim is known as a time of delicious smells emanating from the kitchen from the baking of the delicious sweets and goodies. Hamantaschen, a Purim cookie named for the three-cornered hat that Haman (the bad guy)wore, is one of the favorites. Prep time includes refrigeration."

 

• Ready In: 4hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 12 Hamentaschen

ingredients

• 1⁄2 - 1 cup sweet butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• apricot jam or prune jam
• butter (to grease the cookie sheet)
• flour (to roll the dough on)

directions

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the large bowl.
2. Add the egg yolks and continue to mix well.
3. Add the ice water.
4. Gradually stir in flour until a ball of dough is formed.
5. Place the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for several hours or overnight.
6. When ready to continue, take dough out of refrigerator.
7. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Grease the cookie sheet with the butter.
9. Divide the dough in half.
10. Wrap the extra half in the plastic and put back in the refrigerator.
11. Roll out the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface to a 1/4" thickness.
12. Cut it into 2" circles (use the top of a glass to"press out" the circles).
13. Place 1 teaspoon of the jam in the center of each circle and fold into three-cornered cookies.
14. Start by pressing two sides together, then fold the third side over and press the ends together.
15. Place the Hamantaschen about an inch apart on the greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned along the edges.
16. You don't have to limit yourself to jam, I have used chocolate, peanute butter, a combo of peanut butter and chocolate, date spread, etc.

Reviews

[justcallmetoni]

These cookies got mixed reviews here. The cookie base was much more like a pastry or pie crust than the shortbread variety that is more common in these parts. That said, it was a very tender and flaky one that would be great for all sorts of pastries. For the filling, I choose prune and apricot, a personal favorite and prepare my own using dried fruit cooked with apple juice and a little sugar, then pureed. For the amount of butter, I started with the half cup, added the flour then added enough butter so that the crumbly mix formed a ball. In my case, that meant adding an addition 2-3 tablespoons (10-11 in total).