Remember this? Over the years I actually have had the dream that I forgot to get married and have kids. For women of a certain generation, it's as iconic as "I forgot to go to class/didn't study/couldn't find the classroom."
Well, this morning I woke up in the midst of a horrible dream that I was still the mother of young children and it was Purim and OMG, not only did they not have costumes for the Purim Carnival at school, I forgot to bake Hamantaschen!
Here's a recipe I like for these Purim pastries, based on Haman's 3-cornered hat. Plus another sephardic Purim cookie recipe that's even better.
Hamantaschen (adapted from Jayne Cohen, The Gefilte Variations)
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter (plus butter for greasing the pan)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 Tb. fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. salt
Filling Recipes - your choice
1. In food processor, blend butter with sugar. Add egg, juice, vanilla and pulse until smooth. Stir dry ingredients together and add to food processor. Pulse until ingredients are blended and form a ball on the blades.
2. Divide dough into 4 balls and wrap each will with plastic. Refrigerate at least two yours and up to 3 days.
3. Preheat oven to 350F.
4. Work with one ball of dough at a time, leaving the rest wrapped and refrigerated. Divide/cut the ball into 12 pieces of equal size and roll each piece between your palms into balls. Flatten each ball between sheets of plastic wrap and pat into even rounds of about 3" diameter.
5. Spoon a heaping tsp. of filling in the center of each circle. Fold up one side, making a rim, then fold the two adjacent sides up, forming a triangle. Pinch and smooth the edges. To keep hamantaschen from opening during baking keep the dough cool and don't overhandle.
FILLINGS:
- Most traditional: Poppyseed paste, apricot jam, chopped pistachio nuts
- Also traditional: any kind of fruit jam or preserve
- Modern interpretations: chocolate chips, Nutella
Sephardic Purim Cookies (makes 2 dozen)
1 1/4 Cups ground toasted almonds or hazelnuts
1 1/4 Cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg, slightly beaten + 1 egg yolk
1. Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add the egg and yolk and mix well
2. Shape the mixture with your hands, a tsp. at a time, into 3" sticks.
NOTE, the dough is sticky and you may have to wet your hands a bit to work with it.
3. Place on a greased and floured baking sheet, about 2" apart. Flatten with a fork.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 10 minutes, transfer to cooking rack