Hamantaschen Recipe
Hamantaschen are a traditional Jewish, triangular shaped pastry consisting of a sweetened dough with a filling. The dough is rolled out thin and cut into circles. A dollop of filling is placed in the center and the left and right sides are folded, covering some of the filling, followed by a final fold of the bottom of the dough, creating its signature triangular appearance.
It is usually prepared for the Purim holiday and commonly eaten in Israel, Germany, Poland and Russia.
Hamantaschen has a wide range of fillings, usually sweet. These include jams like apricot, strawberry or raspberry, mashed fruit like cherries or apples, spreads like chocolate or nut based.
The traditional fillings are mohn and lekvar. Mohn is a pasty poppy seed filling. Lekvar is a pureed dried fruit filling, usually made with prunes. The dough can also vary, usually between dairy – containing butter or a nondairy dough made with yeast.
Nondairy hamantaschen is preferred for Purim. Jews follow strict kosher food laws. One of these is not eating dairy and meat together. There is a waiting period after eating meat, which can last up to several house, before consuming dairy and vice versa.
A main component of the Purim feast is meat so baked treats like hamantaschen are best made without dairy so they may also be enjoyed at the feast.
Origin and Cultural Significance
The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates when Queen Esthers defeated the high court official, Hamans plana to execute Jews during the Persian Empire rule. According to lore, Haman wore a triangular hat hence the shape of the cookie signifying victory over Haman.
The original Hamanstachen was called mohntaschen and were filled with the sweet poppyseed filling, mohn. Taschen means pocket, purse or sachel coming from the German word tasche. German Jews who had to flee Germany took the cookie with them to Eastern Europe, later replacing mohn with haman.
Hamantashcen Recipe
Hamantaschen are a traditional Jewish, triangular shaped pastry consisting of a sweetened dough with a filling.
Ingredients
- Butter (unsalted, room temperature) - ¾ cup
- Sugar - 2/3 cup
- Egg (large, room temperature) - 1
- Vanilla - 1 tsp
- Orange zest (grated) - 1 tsp
- Flour - 2 ¼ cup
- Salt - ¼ tsp
- Water (if needed) - 5 tsp
Instructions
- Slice the room temperature butter into small chunks and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the sugar to the bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes till light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest to the bowl.
- Beat again until creamy and well mixed.
- Sift the flour and salt into the bowl.
- Mix on low speed until a crumbly dough forms.
- Hand knead until a smooth dough ball forms. Do not overwork the dough. If the crumbles are too dry to form a smooth dough, add water slowly, 1 teaspoon at a time while still kneading.
- Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch but not sticky. If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour.
- Form the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight. Before assembling the hamantaschen, choose or make a filling and have it on hand to work with.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly flour a smooth, clean surface.
- Unwrap the dough and place it on the floured surface.
- Use a heavy rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. The dough will be very firm. Repair any large cracks with your fingers and continue rolling.
- When the dough reaches 1/4-inch thickness, scrape the dough up with a pastry scraper.
- Flour the surface again and flip the dough over.
- Continue rolling the dough out between 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick, continuously flouring the rolling pin. A thinner dough will create a more delicate cookie.
- Use a 3-inch cookie cutter or 3-inch rim of a glass to cut circles out of the dough.
- Gather the scraps and roll them out again, cut out more circles.
- Repeat the process again until all the dough is gone.
- Place no more than a teaspoon of filling into the center of each circle.
- Cover unused circles with a lightly damp towel to prevent them from drying out before filling.
- Assemble the hamantaschen in three steps. First, grasp the left side of the circle and fold it towards the center to make a flap that covers a third of the circle.
- Grasp the right side of the circle and fold it towards the center, overlapping the upper part of the left side flap to create a triangular tip at the top of the circle. A small triangle of filling should still be visible in the center.
- Grasp the bottom part of the circle and fold it upward to create a third flap that completes the triangle.
- Tuck the left side of the bottom flap underneath the left side of the triangle, while letting the other side overlap the right side of the triangle.
- Pinch each corner of the triangle gently but firmly to secure the shape. If any cracks have formed at the places where the dough is creased, use the warmth of your fingers to smooth them out.
- Repeat this process for the remaining circles.
- When all of your hamantaschen have been filled and shaped, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, spaced evenly.
- Place them in the oven and bake at 350 F degrees for 10-25 minutes, until the cookies are cooked through and lightly golden. Start checking them at 10 minutes and watch closely as they burn quickly.
- Cool then serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 95Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 59mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.
