Poppy Seed Hamantashen
Hamantshen is the staple cookie of the Jewish holiday called Purim. These cookies can be filled with poppy, apricots, prunes or other sweets and can really be eaten all year long.
Hamantashen literally means "Haman's hats" and are meat to look like little funny hats!
This recipe makes approximately 32 cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 can poppy seed filling, such as SOLO brand, or ground prunes or apricot preserves
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for brushing
Preparation
Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, orange peel and salt in large bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the eggs and milk and mix until the dough binds together. Knead the dough in bowl, 5-8 strokes, or until smooth. Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece separately in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Grease two baking sheets, or line with wax paper and set aside.
Roll out one piece of dough on a lightly floured surface to quarter-inch thickness. Cut the dough with a floured 3-inch round plain cookie cutter. Spoon 1 teaspoon poppy filling onto the center of each circle. Bring three edges of the circle together into the middle of circle to form a triangle. Pinch the edges upward to make a slight ridge, leaving a small hole in the center. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, placing each cooking on the prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Brush the cookies with the beaten egg yolk mixture.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookies from the baking sheets and cool completely on wire racks.
