Hamentaschen for Purim!!

Happy Purim everybody!! This is a particularly upbeat Jewish holiday where we celebrate our escape from the clutches of a genocidal Persian guy named Hamen who wore a 3-cornered hat. I can't get into the whole thing now but basically, Hamen wanted to kill all the Jews, but Queen Esther saved us, so now we eat his hat. boo Hamen!!! On Purim you are pretty much commanded to get drunk and to share cookies with friends and loved ones and pretty much everybody really. Poppyseed fillings are most traditional; I made a tasty apricot one.



Hamentashen ("Hamen hats")

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar, white or light brown
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs milk or orange juice (they're not kosher with milk)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
apricot filling (recipe follows)

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg, then stir in the milk/juice and vanilla. Mix in the baking powder and salt, then gradually incorporate the flour til you get a big ball of dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (you could probably get away with just a few hours).

Then, preheat the oven to 375. Roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness. Take a cookie cutter or just a thin-lipped cup and make circles. Place these on your cookie sheet and place a dollop of jam in the center of each. Pinch them together to form 3 corners. You can brush an egg wash on the dough if you're feeling fancy, but I skipped this on mine and they were still delicious (as my friend Molly said when I asked her whether we should've: "I have no regrets").

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, erring on the side of slightly undercooked, then let them cool and then get drunk and give them to all your friends. Yay cookies! Boo Hamen!!

Rolling out the dough with my fabulous silicone rolling pin:



Apricot Filling

Ingredients

A bunch of dried apricots (I don't know, maybe, 15-20?)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Cover your apricots in water and let them sit overnight. When they get all nice and bloated, puree them in a food processor, stirring in the honey and cinnamon. It makes a lovely and colorful filling for hamentaschen. As for what to do with the leftovers of this, I have no idea. My friend Daniel liked it over ice cream.

Molly:



These were surprisingly delicious (not to mention attractive) with chocolate gelato that Molly brought.