Hamantashen Food

HAMANTASHEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the orange juice and vanilla. Mix in the baking powder, then gradually stir in the flour until the dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. I like to do mine overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch circles using a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place circles on the prepared cookie sheets. Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling onto the center of each circle. (Any more and it will ooze out) Pinch the sides of each circle to form a triangle, covering as much of the filling as possible. The cookies may be frozen on the cookie sheets if desired to help retain their shape while cooking.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light golden brown. These are best undercooked slightly. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

HAMENTASHEN

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, zest, both juices and brandy until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until a sticky dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk and chill overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Working with about one quarter of the dough at a time and leaving the remaining in the refrigerator, roll on lightly floured surface a little less than 1/4-inch thick. Cut circles (or other fun shapes) using cookie cutters 2 1/2 to 3 inches. Place a spoonful of filling in center (about 1 teaspoon per cookie) and then pinch one side up. Turn and pinch second and then third to make a triangular shape. Leave a little bit of the filling showing at the top. For non-traditional shapes, use your imagination: tubular, squares, bite-size or even some flat cookies depressed in the center with a bit of filling there.
• Place cookies on parchment paper on cookie sheet, brush with a little beaten egg for sheen and bake until nicely browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Keep room temp in airtight container but consume within 3 to 4 days, tops.
• Combine everything except the lemon zest and juice and the beaten egg into a saucepan and cook over moderate heat until thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir often. Add zest and juice. Take a bit of the filling and mix it into the beaten egg. Repeat, then mix the egg mixture into the pot of filling. Cool overnight.

HAMENTASHEN

Steps:

• Mix everything together until you have a nice dough.
• Take piece by piece from the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin on a floured surface until you get a nice disk.
• Taking a drinking glass, use it to make a nice circle.
• Fill it up with poppy seed filling and close it in the shape of a triangle.
• Bake it in a preheated 350 F degree oven for about 30 minutes. Makes 50 to 60 cookies.

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.

HAMANTASHEN

Steps:

• To make the dough, cream the butter or margarine with the sugar in the food processor. Add the egg, vanilla, and orange juice, and continue to mix until smooth.
• Add 2 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Process until smooth. Flour your hands, remove the dough from the food processor, and cover it in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Put the poppy seeds in a small saucepan. Cover with the milk, and simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat, and cool.
• Add the poppy seeds and milk to the sugar, dates or figs, raisins, walnuts, almonds, lemon zest, and egg yolk. Transfer to a food processor equipped with a steel blade, and pulse until just combined. Refrigerate until the batter is chilled.
• When ready to make the cookies, remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease two cookie sheets.
• Divide the dough into four pieces. Roll one ball out on a lightly floured board to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut the dough into 3-inch circles. Place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each circle. To shape the hamantashen, first brush water around the rim of the circle with your finger. Lift the edges of the dough up to form a triangle around the filling, pinching the three corners together, leaving a small opening in the center. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden. Repeat with each of the remaining dough balls.