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| Poppyseed filled Hamantashen - one with and one without |
[Recipe alert: I posted an earlier version of this recipe some time back. This is the 2017 updated version. Mostly it relates with the manner in which the poppyseed filling is made. This is an easier version.]
This is one of those Jewish pastries made for a
particular holiday, Purim. But nowadays you can find them everyday on the
pastry shelves, even in your local supermarket. They are sometimes filled with
prune or apricot pastes as well as the poppy seeds.
Purim and St. Patrick’s Day are very close together.
One year I made Corned Beef and Cabbage and served Hamantashen for dessert. I
like to use special foods to mark times of the year. It’s the ritualistic in
me. Foods that are made once a year seem to mark certain times and help to
create a memory of continuity and harmony.
Poppy seeds, a tiny seed, come both in black and white.
The black ones are used here.
This particular version is not too sweet. If you like
to have them sweeter, add some more of that sweet stuff...sugar...to the dough
and the filling, if you must. Remember though, that you are going to dust them
with confectioner’s sugar later.
HAMANTASHEN
makes 36-40 cookies
Almond
Dough
Mix together in a bowl:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pulverized almonds
(Trader Joe's ground almonds)
In another bowl (of a mixer, preferably), beat
together until smooth:
1 cup or less of sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
Then add:
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Add dry (the flour mixture) to wet (the butter/sugar
mixture). Mix until it forms a ball then take out on to a lightly floured
surface. (I tried making this in a food processor. It’s possible. Add the dry
ingredients, then the zest, eggs, add some orange juice if too thick) Knead lightly until it holds
together and is smooth and pliant, not stiff. Divide the dough into four
sections. You can refrigerate it covered up to 24 hours. You can also use it
right away. On a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll each
section to about ¼-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit
cutter with a scalloped or straight edge, cut rounds in the dough. Pick up the
scraps and knead them together, put aside.
Working one at a time, moisten the edge of the circle,
using your finger, with a bit of water (put some in a small dish) so that the
dough holds together. Put a full teaspoon of filling in the center. Pull up one
arc of the circle into another, pinching the ends together, then pull up the
third arc and pinch those ends together well. You don’t want them to open up
when baked. Leave an opening in the
center where you can see the filling. You will have made a triangular shape
with an open center. See photo.
Place on a sheet pan that is covered with parchment
paper. Repeat with each circle. Roll out the other three sections of dough in
the same manner. Knead the scraps from each section and keep re-rolling until
most of the dough has been used.
Brush each hamantashen with the egg glaze. Bake at 350
for 25 minutes, checking after 15 minutes, until slightly golden. Cool. Place on
a grate to cool. Store in a closed container. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar
to serve.
Egg
glaze:
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream or water
Prune
filling:
2 cups prune
butter
1/2 cup ground
almonds
1 tablespoon orange
zest
1-2 tablespoons orange
juice or orange flower water
Mix until a smooth, soft paste.
Poppy
Seed Filling:
3/4 cup poppy seeds
1 tablespoon, chia seeds (optional)
½ cup almond milk or
orange juice
3 tablespoons honey
¼ cup brown sugar
grated zest of ½ orange
juice of ½ lemon
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2/3 cup raisins, chopped
½ tablespoon brandy
½ tablespoon Cointreau or other orange liqueur
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Grind the poppy and chia
seeds in a spice grinder in batches. Heat the seeds with the milk or orange
juice. Add the other ingredients then cook it down with medium-heat until it
becomes a thick paste. Cool. Can be made and refrigerated, covered, the day
before. Serve sprinkled with confctioners sugar.
