Hamantaschen (66/366)

(66/366)

So after my flour disaster and my inability to create hamantaschen that didn’t end up a big, puffy mess, it was a relief to taken this latest batch of cookies out of the oven and see that they were still triangular and the filling seemed to still actually be filling the inside of the cookie.

This was my second batch of hamantaschen and I was desperate to keep the cookies together. So, I went with a new recipe and a new folding method. Instead of pinching the corners together or just smooshing them down and praying, I went with this pinwheel overlapping effect. And golly gee, it worked!

My hamantaschen are baked, my goodie bags are prepped, tomorrow is going to be a big day!

Hamantaschen

adapted from The Shiksa

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Poppy seed, prune, apricot, raspberry, etc., filling.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest and mix until everything is fully incorporated.

Slowly add the flour and salt and mix until a crumbly dough forms. Using your hands, knead the dough until a soft dough forms. If the dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour. If it’s too dry, add a little bit of water.

Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight, until the dough is firm.

Roll the dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3″ diameter round cookie cutter, cut out circles. Transfer the circles to a baking sheet. Fill with your favorite filling, being careful not too overfill. Just about a 1/2 tsp of filling worked for me. Fold up the corners, pressing down to make sure they don’t separate.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.