Monday, March 3, 2014

Hamentashen


Growing up I was raised somewhat religious. We went to temple for all the major holidays and most weekends, I went to Hebrew school and received my Bat Mitzvah, etc. As I've aged I've really lost touch with the traditions I had as a child. However when Landon was 6 weeks old I made a friend, who also happened to have a 6 week old, and we have since become very close. We see each other almost weekly since we live 3 minutes apart and our boys are best buds. She too is Jewish and helps to keep me connected to my roots. She asked me this past weekend to come over and make hamentashen for Purim and I jumped at the chance. I LOVE those delicious fruit filled triangular cookies! They bring me back to childhood, when I was the pickiest eater in the world and would eat the cookie put toss the fruit filling.

The recipe we used was basic and delicious. I used my judgement and made some adaptations... like cutting the bake time in half. There was no way these needed 30 minutes. 15-18 minutes and they were perfect. Also notable, the recipe says this yields 60 cookies but I don't think you can get more than 25 cookies at the most.

These were delicious and really quite easy to make once we got the hang of it. If you celebrate Purim you must try these, and even if you don't, they are still a delicious cookie to try!

Source: Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tbsp orange juice
Raspberry and apricot jam

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- In a bowl combine all ingredients except the jam. Mix well until a dough is formed.
3- Roll dough out onto the counter. Using a drink class cut into circles.
4- Place a small spoonful of jam in the center of each circle. Pinch the sides together and bring the bottom up, forming a triangle around the jam.

   

5- Transfer to a bake sheet. Repeat until all cookies are formed.
6- Bake 18 minutes, until firm and slightly golden on the bottom.
7- Transfer to a cooling rack.

1 comment:

  1. I grew up the same way...temple on major holidays, Hebrew Schoola nd Hebrew High School, Bat Mitzvah. And now that I'm grown I do the "major" things like fasting on Yom Kippur and avoiding Chametz on Passover but not much more. I didn't even realize it was almost Purim! Those hamentashen look SO good. My last attempt was an epic failure (the triangles opened and the filling ran everywhere). I've resorted to buying them from a bakery instead, but just might have to give this recipe a try because I'd love some homemade ones!

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