Homemade Hamentashen

I owe you guys. Due to a series of technological failures yesterday, the gorgeous recipe for homemade hamentashen didn't make it online as planned. You see, yesterday was Purim, the Jewish cross between St. Patrick's Day and Halloween, and the holiday that warrants triangular cookies that are like little bites of heaven (that is, if heaven were dense and buttery and filled with jam). However, today is Purim in Jerusalem (weird scheduling things all around!) so the timeliness isn't entirely lost here.

Homemade Hamentashen


What You Need

3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup (1 1/3 sticks) cold butter or

margarine, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large egg whites beaten with 2 tsp

sugar

Jam (for the filling)

What You Do

Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in a food processor fitted with steel blades and pulse two or three times. Add butter and pulse to form crumbs. Combine eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla. Pour mixture into processor and pulse until dough clumps together. Put dough onto lightly floured surface and form into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour or up to three days.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, positioning the shelves in the lower and upper thirds. Line cookie sheets with parchment. Roll dough on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Using a three-inch cookie cutter, cut circles of dough and place on cookie sheets. Place about 1/2 tsp of filling in the center of each circle. Brush the perimeter of the circle with the egg white wash, and lift the dough, partially covering the filling to form a triangular shape. Brush the formed cookies with the egg wash and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. To ensure even baking, rotate the sheets back to front and top to bottom. Remove from the oven and let cool before eating.

Tune in tomorrow for a similarly belated budget finds--we'll be back on schedule shortly!