Cookies with Filling (Jewish Hamantaschen)

Hamantaschen, known as oreilles d'aman to French speakers, are triangular, jelly-filled cookies Jews make for the holiday of Purim. They are made to resemble the hat or ears of Haman, the villain of the Purim story who tried and failed to destroy every last Jew in Persia. The holiday is celebrated by putting on costumes, drinking, and eating these cookies. Making hamantaschen is easy and super kid-friendly. Make the dough with a standard recipe and fill the cookies with anything from traditional poppy seeds to apricot jam to chocolate.

Shortbread Cookie Dough:
1½ stick unsalted butter (170 g)
1 cup white sugar (225 g)
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached (440 g)
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. pure vanilla or orange extract
4 Tbsp. orange juice, freshly squeezed

Poppy Seed Filling:
½ cup poppy seeds
½ cup milk (120 mL)
1 Tbsp. butter (15 g)
2 Tbsp. sugar (30 g)
⅔ cup raisins or dried apples (100 g)

Prune Filling:
1 cup prunes, pitted (225 g)
½ cup sugar (100 g)
⅔ cup raisins (100 g)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 Tbsp. lemon zest, freshly zested

Chocolate Filling:
7 oz chocolate (200 g)
2 Tbsp. whipping cream (30 g)
1 Tbsp. butter (15 g)

Making the Dough:
Sift and combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla or orange extract. Next, add egg and egg yolk one at a time. Add flour mixture and orange juice. This is a soft dough. Divide the dough into two. Form each into a flat disc. Wrap in cling/plastic wrap.

Chill Dough and Roll:
Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (preferably one hour) or until firm enough to roll. Roll the dough using as little flour as possible. Using a 3" round cookie cutter cut as many discs as you can. Place the circles on a baking tray. If the dough has softened place in the fridge to chill again.

Add Filling and Fold:
Make one of the fillings above or simply use apricot, strawberry or any flavour jam. Place a small tsp. of filling in the center of the disc. Do not add too much filling. The cookie dough is delicious on its own too. Too much filling will cause an overflow and open up. Dampen the disc edges very lightly with water or egg white (very lightly – just to secure them). Overlap or pinch the three sides of the disc/circle using either the Pinch or Flat method below.

Pinch Method:
Brush the disc ever so slightly with water or egg whites. The easiest way to find the middle with these triangles. Pinch two sides – bring the third side up to the middle. Press the folds gently, do not pinch too much. Place all cookies on a baking tray.

Flat Method:
Basically, all you do is overlap the three corners. Start with the first, then the second overlap the first, and lastly, the third overlaps the first.

Chill Cookies and Bake:
Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4).

Chill the cookies for at least 20 minutes while the oven is preheating. (Chilling helps the cookies hold their shape better).

Bake in a preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack completely before you store in a cookie jar.

Storage:
These cookies will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks but they taste best in the first week of baking. The cookie dough can be chilled for a week in the fridge or frozen for up to three months in the freeze. Fruit fillings will last for a week in the fridge.