Ashkenazi, Desserts, Purim

Hamantashen for Purim!

Hamantashen cookies on a cake plate

Ever notice how awful hamantashen are, no matter whether they are commercial or homemade? Well, not these babies. These traditional Jewish cookies are thin-crusted, crisp, and delicious. They’re also a lot of work, but worth it!!

Hamantashen

Make the dough and filling and chill at least one day before you make these traditional cookies.

Ingredients for Dough:

  • 2/3 cup shortening or coconut oil
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • Small pinch of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tablespoons orange juice
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for Filling:

  • ½ pound dried apricots
  • 1 cup sugar

Method for Dough:

  1. Place flour, sugar, and salt in food processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine
  2. Add shortening, cut into dry ingredients, pulsing 8-12 times until mixture resembles cornmeal
  3. Add juice, vanilla, and egg to mixture, pulsing just until mixture comes together
  4. Make a disk of dough, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight

Method for Filling:

  • Simmer apricots in water to barely cover, until apricots are tender, about 5 minutes
  • Drain apricots, whir in food processor with sugar while still hot
  • Refrigerate

Method for Hamantashen:

  1. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on floured board or pastry cloth
  2. Cut in rounds
  3. Put filling in center of rounds
  4. Pick up edges toward center to form triangles & pinch dough together with floured fingers
  5. Place on baking paper-lined cookie sheets
  6. Bake at 375° about ten minutes or until browned

Yield: About 40 cookies

Note: Can freeze unbaked hamantashen on cookie sheets in single layers, then pack into freezer boxes well ahead of time, to be baked later, straight from the freezer.