With Purim just two days away, it’s time for that favorite three-cornered treat — hamantaschen! There’s lots of fiddly bits to hamantaschen, the worst of which is shaping. There are many a sorry tale of perfectly shaped “before” hamantaschen that post baking resulted in oozing, puddly sort-of circles. No neat corners indeed.
To pinch or not to pinch? That is the question. Should one gently fold and overlap the dough, or, with a bit of water, pinch the corners tight?
This year we tackled our own recommended recipe (which calls for pinching!), and we’re pretty happy with the results. Take a look for yourself. Now that’s not to say there weren’t a few that were busted (see “before” picture, top right for example). But the beauty of those are that you can snack away without feeling too guilty about depleting your pile.
Traditional Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup raw (turbinado) sugar
- 1 large egg
- zest of one lemon
- 1/2-3/4 C raspberry jam, or filling of your choice
Instructions
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Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl beat butter and sugar, then add egg and zest beating until incorporated. Add flour mixture, stirring, until a smooth dough is formed. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.
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Preheat oven to 375° F.
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Halve dough. On a lightly floured surface roll out half of dough (keeping other half wrapped and chilled) 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 2.5" rounds and place onto baking sheet. Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each round and fold up edges to form a triangular shape. Pinch dough tightly enough so seams are no longer visible and sides are taut enough to prevent cookies from leaking filling as they bake.
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As you cut out rounds, reroll scraps and add to the ever growing pile of dough for the next batch.
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Bake in middle of oven 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool hamantaschen on baking sheet 5 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely. Make more hamantaschen with remaining dough and filling in same manner.
Recipe Notes
Hamantaschen keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.
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