Hamantaschen Lazy Food

HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Make the dough: Beat the butter, both sugars, the egg, milk, vanilla and maple extract (if using) with a mixer on medium-high speed. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until fully incorporated.
• Divide the dough into thirds and wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Form the hamantaschen: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 375˚ F. Roll out one piece of dough on a floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Use the rim of a juice glass to cut out 3-inch circles. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Spoon a teaspoon of the apricot preserves into the center of each circle of dough.
• Fold in the edges of the dough to form a triangle, pinching at the corners to keep the filling in but leaving the center filling slightly exposed.
• Bake the hamantaschen: Arrange the hamantaschen on 2 baking sheets (use nonstick pans or line the pans with parchment paper).
• Bake, rotating and switching the pans halfway through, until the hamantaschen are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack and let cool completely.

EASY HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until lightly and fluffy. Stir in the oil, vanilla and orange juice. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter to form a stiff dough. If dough is not stiff enough to roll out, stir in more flour. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into circles using a cookie cutter or the rim or a drinking glass. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of preserves into the center of each one. Pinch the edges to form three corners.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

HAMANTASCHEN, LAZY

Steps:

• Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Add flour.
• Form into 3" logs, wrap and freeze.
• Before making, remove from freezer and let thaw slightly. Slice in 1/4" slices.
• Put some filling in the center of each slice.
• Fold each "cicle" into a triangular shape, pinching the edges closed. Note that the dough needs to have defrosted all the way to fold it.
• I put the cookies on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. That way, you can use a sharpie to write whose cookie is whose on the paper.
• Bake at 350°F until done, about 20 minutes.

HAMANTASCHEN WITH YEAST DOUGH

Steps:

• Starter:.
• Place the milk in a large mixing bowl and mix with the water, yeast, sugar and flour to make a sloppy batter.
• Cover and allow to stand for 20- 30 minutes.
• Dough:.
• Stir the sponge and add it to the sugar, melted butter, vanilla, eggs, salt and enough flour to make a soft, kneadable dough.
• Knead for 5 to 8 minutes until smooth.
• Cover well with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
• At this stage, you can also refrigerate until the next day but allow dough to reach room temperature before proceeding.
• Divide the dough in half.
• Work, with one piece, leaving the rest of the dough covered with a tea towel.
• Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut out 3 inch circles with a cookie cutter or glass.
• Brush the circles with egg wash.
• Put tablespoon of desired filling in each.
• Bring 3 edges together to form triangles.
• Brush the filled hamantaschen with additional egg eash and sprinkle lightly with sugar if desired.
• Repeat with remaining dough.
• 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F Line 1 or 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
• Place the hamantashcen on the trays.
• Cover lightly with a tea towel and let them rise 15 to 25 minute.
• Bake 18 to 20 minutes until medium golden.
• Cool on the baking sheets.

STRAWBERRY HALVA HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• To make the dough, mix all the ingredients together with your hands to form a dough. Cut it in half and form into two discs. Wrap the discs and chill for about 1 hr.
• To make the halva filling, mix the tahini and honey in a small bowl with a pinch of sea salt. If it's very thick, add a little water - take care not to add too much or it will become too liquid.
• Roll out one of the pieces of dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about 2-3mm thick. It's important to keep it thin or the hamantaschen will be too chunky once folded. Cut out circles of the dough using a 6 or 7cm pastry cutter - the smaller the cutter, the more hamantaschen you will have.
• Smear about ½ tsp of the halva filling on each circle, and top with about ¼ tsp jam - you don't want any more than about a teaspoon of the two combined, or it will be awkward to fold and the filling will ooze out when baking.
• To assemble the hamantaschen, paint the outer edge of a circle very lightly with egg wash. Take the lower left edge of the circle (if it was a clock face, it would be from 5 to 8 o'clock) and fold it at an angle towards the centre to make a flap that covers the left third of the circle. Next, take the opposite side of the circle (7 to 3 o'clock) and fold it up towards the centre, slightly overlapping the left side flap to create a triangular tip at the bottom of the circle. You should be able to see the filling in the middle. Finally, fold the top part of the circle downwards to create a third flap and complete the triangle - a small triangle of filling should be visible in the centre. Gently press the points of the triangle together to make them really stick. Ideally, you want the edges to be over the next one on one side and under on the other to create a pinwheel effect. Place the hamantaschen on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and chill for 20-30 mins to firm up. Repeat with the remaining circles, then with the second disc of dough and the remaining filling.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake for about 20 mins until golden brown - check after 15 mins that they're not getting too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

HAMANTASCHEN (BEST EVER!)

Steps:

• For the filling, simply chop all the ingredients fine in your food processor and mix well.
• For the dough, cream sugar and eggs.
• Add oil and mix until it turns pale yellow and is no longer shiny.
• Mix in lemon and vanilla.
• In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet. When it becomes difficult to mix, add more flour and knead.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• To assemble cookies, roll out dough (in batches) to desired thickness (maybe a little thinner than 1/4") and cut into circles of desired size (can use cookie cutter, inverted glass, etc). Put a dollop of filling in the center of each cookie and fold up into a triangular shape, pinching the corners and leaving the center open so that the filling peeks out.
• Bake cookies for about 15 minutes until they are beginning to brown. I've always greased the cookie sheet very lightly with non-stick spray, but I don't know that you need to.