Hamantaschen Cookies

     I've decided to branch out a bit in baking this year.  I received a wonderful baking catalog full of gorgeous baked goods that were almost jumping off the pages irresistible! I decided this year for the Christmas Holidays to bake more of a variety then my "usual."  I thought I was tackling one of the easier baking recipes first and from what I've heard and even read now, I took on one that can be a bit challenging.  I think I had 'beginners luck'...as my filling stayed in place and the cookies didn't explode open (both of which can happen easily)  I used my homemade Pluot Jam and homemade Blood Orange Jam in these - the results were more then I expected. As long as you keep in mind some simple 'reminders/tips' on this recipe - you will get great results first time out too.
These are the tips I learned:
1)  roll your dough 1/8" thick and make your circle of dough at least 3" in diameter. 
2) fill centers with only 1 tsp of a filling *and make certain that filling is thick and firm.
3) use the 'dairy free' dough recipe because the butter dough can be harder to work your first time out...
4) learn how to tuck & "fold" them so that the filling stays put and the dough remains in a triangle. 

Hamantaschen Cookies {Dairy Free}
Ingredients
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
water (as needed)

Jam filling, pick your favorite to use! 

Directions:  
​Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, canola oil, orange zest and vanilla.
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet, until a crumbly dough begins to form. 
• Flour your hands lightly and knead dough until it is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch (not sticky). If the dough is too dry to form a smooth dough ball, add water slowly, 2 teaspoons at a time, using your hands to knead the liquid into the dough. Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch, with a consistency that is right for rolling the dough out.
• If the dough is too wet, knead in a little flour into dough until it reaches the right texture. 
• Lightly flour a smooth, clean surface. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Gather the dough up, lightly re-flour the surface,  flip the dough over. Continue rolling the dough out very thin (about 1/8 of an inch thick).  
• Using a 3-inch cookie cutter (not smaller) or the 3-inch rim of a glass to cut circles out of the dough, cutting as many circles as you can from the dough.
• Gather the scraps and roll them out again. Cut more circles. Repeat process again until you've cut as many circles as you can from the dough. 
• Place a teaspoon of filling into the center of each circle. Do not use more than a teaspoon of filling, or you run the risk of the filling spilling out during baking. 
• Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are cooked through and lightly golden.
• Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store them in an Air-tight container.

Recipe Adapted from: Sylvia Fischer
​Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home 

 the fold:  keep in mind while folding the center filling needs to remain visible.  Pull the left top side of circle over to form the left side and half of the top peak, then pull the right side over to meet at the top peak (making a tee-pee) the filling should still be visible and bottom edge is still unfolded.  Now take the bottom edge (base of triangle and fold upwards but, as you do so - tuck the left corner under the left side edge (this ensures your cookies won't "bake open" and on the right side bottom, you meet the right edge with no tucking.  Once all 3 'peaks" of the triangle are made, you want to lightly crimp each peak by pinching/pressing slightly (I say pinch and then reshape back into a triangle peak as needed)  

the filling: you can fill your cookies with virtually anything but, keep in mind, the more water your filling holds in it that will heat and boil out - if using a fruit product - you want to go for a thicker jam and stay away from a jelly.  Chutneys would be wonderful as well. 
The varieties you can bake are endless - from sweet to savory.
 
The "story": there are other writers and food bloggers that have written about the History and story of Hamantaschen and about the "Triangle" of Haman. I love recipes and foods that have a "story" to tell and glad that I received that baking catalog - who knew that choosing a new cookie to bake would teach me a little more about a religion and the cookies history then I'd realize...and be tasty at the same time!  

Recipe Adapted from: Sylvia Fisher
​Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home