Monday Morning Cooking Club’s Hamantashen for Purim

from Monday Morning Cooking Club – ‘A Year of Jewish Cooking’

PASTRY

200 g (7 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
50 g (⅓ cup + 3 teaspoons/1¾ oz) icing sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
150 g (1 cup/5⅓ oz) plain flour, plus extra
150 g (1 cup/5⅓ oz) self-raising flour

FILLINGS

thick raspberry + vanilla jam
nutella + halva
‘stuffed monkey’ (dried fruit + jam)

EGGWASH

1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS

Line a large baking tray.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, icing sugar and salt for a few minutes until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix the flours together. On low speed, add the flour to the butter mixture, one-quarter at a time. Once a soft dough has formed, remove from the mixer bowl and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Each piece will make about 10 hamantashen. On a well-floured benchtop, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out 1 piece of the dough to a thickness of 3 mm (⅒ in). Using a 7 cm (2¾ in) cookie cutter, cut out circles. Place ½–1 teaspoon of your chosen filling in the centre of each circle.

Fold the hamantashen by folding three flaps as follows:

Take the left side of the circle and fold it towards the centre so it covers the left third of the circle.

Take the upper right side of the circle and fold it towards the middle, overlapping the previous flap at the top, creating a triangular tip. You will see a small triangle of filling in the middle.

Take the bottom edge of the circle and fold it up towards the top to complete the triangle. When you fold this part up, tuck the left side of this flap underneath the bottom of the first (left) flap you folded, and let the right side of this flap overlap the second flap you folded.

Gently pinch each corner to secure and place on the prepared tray.

Re-roll the scraps, fill and fold as above.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) conventional. Brush each hamantashen with egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden.

Makes about 40 hamantashen. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Recipes for three fillings in A Year of Jewish Cooking.