Purim Hamentashen

Happy Purim! Purim is like the Jewish Halloween. There is of course a story behind it and it has nothing to do with Halloween but the costumes and all of the noisemaking always remind me of it. Purim is definitely one of the more fun Jewish holidays because it encourages you to act like a kid. Best of all, Purim is accompanied by yummy cookies called Hamentashen, specially made in the shape of a triangle to resemble Haman's hat.

This year I decided to make Hamentashen and distribute them amongst my family. I made two different types of dough: a shortbread dough and a yeast dough, as well as two different fillings. It was quite a lengthy process to make both but I didn't mind...I hadn't baked in so long I was definitely craving some good quality time in the kitchen!

I wanted to figure out which dough was better for the Hamentashen so I opted to use the same combination of fillings for both and keep that element constant. At first I made the Hamentashen with the shortbread dough then the next day I made the yeast dough. The winner of my little contest: shortbread. Taste wise, I think I actually preferred the shortbread dough over the yeast dough, though my brother felt the opposite. However that wasn't the deciding factor...it was the effort.

The yeast dough took a lot longer to make, considering that I had to wait for it to rise once then again after forming the Hamentashen. Also, the Hamentashen kept falling apart when made from the yeast dough and the triangle shape was hard to achieve. My mom said that when her grandmother made the Hamentashen in the past, she used the yeast dough and made them bigger. Maybe that helps, I don't know, but I definitely know that I'm not repeating the process. I'm sticking to the shortbread dough and that's that.

Purim Hamentashen
Note: This recipe makes about 30 cookies. Each of the fillings is enough to fill one batch of 30 (more or less). I doubled the dough and used both fillings, but had some dough left over, so I filled the rest with apricot jam.

For the dough:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2-3 cups flour

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. 
2. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and lemon zest.
3. In a separate bowl combine the baking powder, salt, and 2 cups of flour.
4. Add the dry mixture in parts to the wet until a dough starts to form. If necessary add a little more flour.
5. Gather the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes so that it is easier to work with.

For the poppy seed filling:

• 1 cup poppy seeds
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 orange, zested

1. In as small saucepan bring the milk and poppy seeds to boil.
2. Once boiling, add the honey and butter and continue to heat over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, until the filling thickens.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and mix in the zests. Set aside to cool.

For the berry, chocolate, nut filling:

• 3/4 cup nuts, toasted (I used almonds. Other options include walnuts, pecans, etc)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup jam (I used plum but you can use anything....strawberry, raspberry, etc. Try to get seedless jam)

1. Combine the nuts and chocolate chips in a food processor and pulse until a paste forms.
2. Empty into a separate bowl and stir in the jam.

To make the Hamentashen:

1. Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thickness and cut into 2" rounds.
2. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of each round.
3. Carefully wet the edge of the dough and bring up the sides to form a triangle. It helps to pinch the ends together to achieve the triangle shape.
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the pan before removing to a plate to cool completely.