Hand-Pie AKA Pop Tart Hamantaschen

In our usual annual tradition, we have started to make a lot of hamantaschen.

In the course of one baking session, we used one batch of Aunt Dora's dough, one batch of chocolate dough, and a double batch of cream-cheese dough (that's my favorite). It was about 150 cookies. Yum! The chocolate and cream-cheese recipes that I used this year came from Marcy Goldman's cookbook A Treasury of Jewish Baking.

Hamantaschen are, as you might know, the three-cornered filled pastries that remind us in some way of The Bad Guy from the Purim story, Haman. Some say they are reminiscent of his hat, his pockets, or his ears. Either way, they're a fun and delicious treat for this holiday!

So this year, I have started thinking more and more about what "counts" in the field of hamantaschen. After all, there's no list of "rules" for making them -- and over the last few years, perhaps thanks to Pinterest, hamantaschen creativity is off the charts!

So this year, inspired by this post from Kosher in the Kitch, I decided to try my hand at hand-pie hamantaschen, also known as Pop-Tart Hamantaschen.

I picked up a package of refrigerated pie dough (careful, some of the supermarket brands contain lard) and let it come to room temperature. Then I rolled them out into the round circles (meant to make pies of course) and sliced them like a pizza!

I filled up half with chocolate spread and half with strawberry jam, crimped the edges, brushed with a little egg wash, and baked.

Then we added some glaze -- about a cup of powdered sugar and a tablespoon of milk made a nice sugary topping. Then I had a little helper who might have gone a little overboard with the blue sugar...

my helper

I thought they were delicious!
Next time I will make them slightly smaller (it will make more from a batch of pie dough), and perhaps mix up the chocolate and strawberry!

Bonus -- I also made hamantaschen-shaped challah:

Luckily, challah doesn't mind dressing up as other baked goods.

The usual Hamantaschen Post Round-Up:

Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks
Great-Aunt Dora's Dough Recipe (a basic, wonderful, forgiving dough recipe)
Yeast Dough
Chocolate Dough
Cream Cheese Dough
Thin-Mint-inspired Hamantaschen

No-Roll Hamantaschen (And Rainbows)
And if you don't like hamantaschen, try these Palmiers for Purim.

No-Roll Hamantaschen

Last year, I made these rainbow hamantaschen. (I wasn't in the mood to blog.)

One of the coolest parts of this recipe (besides how they look!) was the way in which the dough circles were created. It was basically a slice-and-bake cookie (with a little more work along the way).

This year, I saw this recipe, and I realized that this rolling-out-the-dough thing could be done in a different way.

How hamantaschen dough is typically rolled out

So that's exactly what I tried.

After making any one of my regular hamantaschen doughs (Aunt Dora's, cream cheese, and chocolate -- I made one of each), I put the dough into a piece of parchment, rolled into a log, wrapped it tightly into the parchment, and refrigerated.

When I was ready to make hamantaschen, I took the logs out of the fridge one at a time, and sliced them.

Let me suggest that you give the "logs" a little extra roll when you take them out to ensure a good round circle shape. Also, I wanted them a little larger, so I used my palm to press each dough piece into a slightly flatter and more circular shape.

I was so surprised at how quickly I was able to prepare lots and lots of dough circles for the kids to fill! I may never roll hamantaschen dough again!

Each year, I like to try something new. This year, I was inspired to try this Oreo-Cookie Dough. (I tried out this dough recipe and it was good, but I would probably use one of my own doughs, and add in the crushed oreos.) I did not use the suggested filling, but instead went and found an imitation oreo cookie filling (I used this one here, and froze it before using it, to make sure it wouldn't run when baking.)

The verdict? The oreo dough was delicious. The filling was also delicious. The filling went well in the chocolate dough as well.

OREO cream-filled chocolate hamantaschen....

If you're still looking for hamantaschen ideas, here are some of my previous posts on the subject:
Great-Aunt Dora's Dough Recipe (a basic, wonderful, forgiving dough recipe) 
Yeast Dough 
Chocolate Dough
 Cream Cheese Dough
 Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks
Thin-Mint-inspired Hamantaschen
And if you don't like hamantaschen, try these Palmiers for Purim.

Purim 2013

This year's Purim was pretty simple.

A lot of hamantaschen were made and eaten.

 The kids wanted to be the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I love the idea of a family theme costume, and we've never done it before...it worked...mostly. Solly would NOT wear a costume at all.

Even without a costume on, I am so glad I got this picture of my four musketeers!

Finally at the end of the Carnival, he let our friend Sam put HIS costume onto Solly.

For about 30 seconds. Just long enough for me to take a picture!

Sometimes Purim is a big blowout. 

Sometimes we just barely make it. 

This year was one of those barely-make-it kind of years.

But you know what? We celebrated, we had fun, and there's always next year!

Costumes and all that hamantaschen....and now we're onto Pesach!

Hamantaschen 2013

Every year we make a lot of hamantaschen. I love them. I love to share them with friends and family.

Many people make amazing themed mishloach manot.
I just give out hamantaschen.

I think it's okay.

So this year we made a lot of "normal" hamantaschen. A few batches of my Aunt Dora's recipe and a few batches of cream-cheese dough. One batch of yeast dough, too.

My brother is visiting from Israel and he helped with a lot of the fun!

Bubbie (my mom) made a whole bunch of filling for us!

Zeyde (my dad) approves

Why yes, they ARE playing with flour. Doesn't everyone?

And as usual, I wanted to try something new.

I was totally inspired by this post from Pragmatic Attic, Midnight Mint Hamantaschen.

But since I already have a chocolate dough that I know and love, my brother suggested that we just replace the vanilla with mint extract. And since I'd already bought the Special Dark Cocoa, I used that too. Just the dough was pretty darn yummy. Then we added the mint ganache as filling and they were outstanding.

Maybe other new ideas coming, we'll see!

If you're still looking for hamantaschen ideas, here are some of my previous posts on the subject.

Great-Aunt Dora's Dough Recipe (a basic, wonderful, forgiving dough recipe)
Yeast Dough
Chocolate Dough
Cream Cheese Dough
Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks
And if you don't like hamantaschen, try these Palmiers for Purim.

P.S. Hamantaschen are GREAT for breakfast. Just ask Solly:

Purim Palmiers

I didn't even know what a palmier was.
My friend Barrett mentioned that she had made them for Purim, using Tina Wasserman's recipe.

I looked it up...and, oh my, they sounded delicious.
Thank goodness for Google, since I could look it up without feeling stupid. Oh, but now I've told all of you....okay. Well... you love me anyway, right? 
Plus, I had two packages of puff pastry languishing in my freezer.
(I think that Purim is a baking holiday just to help us get rid of the chametz right before Passover!) 

So I learned a little about palmiers. They are a French-Jewish Purim treat that are meant to represent Haman's misshapen ears. (Purim has so much silliness.)

Oh, and they do taste amazing. Purim is all about delicious.

 Tina's recipe is here. It was super easy.

 My recommendations - it took longer that 30 minutes to defrost the puff pastry to be workable. Almost an hour. I thought I'd be able to roll out hamantaschen while waiting for them to freeze, bake, etc, but it seemed silly to clean up all that sugar on the board so I couldn't really multi-task. They baked for much shorter than the time suggested, only about 8 minutes on the first side and 3 on the second side so watch your oven.

Rolling up the puff pastry:

What they look like all rolled up:

After rolling, you freeze them for 30 minutes and then slice and flatten them out:

The finished product:
 

The verdict:
2 out of 4 of my kids loved them.
I am a big fan and planning to make them a new part of my Purim baking routine!
I'm not giving up on hamantaschen though.

Purim is Coming!

Baking hamantaschen is one of my favorite yearly traditions.
We started a little early this year (maybe?) but I have plans, as usual, to make many.
We started with some of the usual kinds...chocolate, date, apricot...
And we started with some of the usual helpers...

Homemade apricot filling created by Bubbie using recipe found in this post.

Are you looking for some Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks?

Last year I posted some of my favorites! 

People have been posting their Mishloach Manot themes...very creative!

This is one of those times when I tend to be very...boring.

I like to give hamantaschen.

I can't help it!

They're so yummy.

If I didn't give them away...

I would just eat them all myself.

I have some ideas for creative hamantaschen up my sleeve so stay tuned....

Hamantaschen Tips and Tricks

Last year I did a "Hamantaschen Test Kitchen" with six different varieties:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?
Gluten Free Hamantaschen
Chocolate!
Aunt Dora's Recipe
Yeast Dough

This year, I thought I would give some of my favorite tips and tricks for hamantaschen baking:

Marble hamantaschen...mmm....

1. Make the dough in advance. It will work better if cold, and most hamantaschen doughs freeze really well. Just let it get soft enough to roll out once you're ready to use them.

2. Make and freeze ahead of time. I have 4 dozen hamantaschen hanging out in my freezer from last week just waiting to be packaged and given out to friends and family. Don't feel pressure to make them all at once.

3. I love using my silicone rolling mat to roll out the dough. This keeps me from needing to add too much flour as I roll, and it keeps the flavor of the dough intact. I also recommend baking on parchment. It's the best way to keep things from sticking. Also helps if the filling oozes out a little - makes cleanup much easier!

4. Brush each dough circle with a little egg white before filling. I lay out all the circles on the cookie sheet, brush them all, then drop the filling, then pinch them all. It works best in an assembly line fashion like this, rather than trying to do each hamantaschen one by one. (Then again, if you're doing it with the kids...let them have their fun!)

5. Fillings should be nice and thick, but not too dry. Chocolate chips by themselves make for dry hamantashen, but chocolate spread works great. Some people are purists and require poppyseed. If you like it, have at it! Buy high quality oven-safe jams, they work really well. It's worth it for the yum.

6. Be creative! One of my favorite tricks is to spread some jimmies or multi-colored sprinkles down on the mat and roll the dough out on top of them. This way the sprinkles are in the outside of the hamantaschen. For getting really fancy, I might drizzle chocolate on top or even dip part or all of each finished cookie in chocolate. Can't go wrong with that!

What's your favorite flavor? 

What kind are you making this year?

Hamantaschen Test Kitchen #6: Yeast Dough Hamantaschen

I'll admit, I had never even heard of Yeast Dough Hamantaschen until a congregant of mine mentioned them to me. Somehow, the idea of yeast dough for hamantaschen piqued my curiosity (and, um, my tastebuds!). Marcy Goldman, in her cookbook Jewish Holiday Baking, has a recipe, but it calls for scalded milk. Too complicated! Hey Marcy, why do you have to scald the milk? What's the benefit?

So instead, I turned to the trusty Internet and found this recipe from the wise Gil Marks.
No scalded milk required.

It worked great. I did the overnight rise, and then baked them in the morning. I'm a little bit hooked on the slightly sour yeasty flavor of the dough coupled with the sweetness of the date filling that I used.

Don't they look yummy? I ate mine fresh out of the oven, it was

soft and fabulous.

Some things that I found perplexing about working with this recipe, though:
1. These definitely opened up way in the oven way more than any other hamantaschen I've made. Even with an egg wash to bind them. I wonder how to keep them together more. I also used egg wash on top before baking.

2. When rolling out, I couldn't get the scraps to "re-roll." Thus, I ended up with a lot of waste. I couldn't figure out what to do with the scraps, I'm sure I could have made little rolls or something, but I couldn't get the dough to reconnect with itself. Any bread makers out there have advice for me in this department?

3. The extra rising made the whole thing take a lot longer. Not only the dough (I'm used to the chilling thing) but also the second rise. I wonder if that had something to do with the opening up in the oven thing also.

And thus ends the Great Hamantaschen Test Kitchen of 5770.

Whew. I think that a whole year until I see another hamantaschen will be just about right.

I think that next year I'll just make chocolate and cream cheese. Those were my two favorites. Hmm. Maybe a batch of the yeast dough ones again to see if I can get them right? And the gingerbread ones were pretty yummy....ack!

Previous Hamantaschen Test Kitchen posts here:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?
Gluten Free Hamantaschen
Chocolate!
Aunt Dora's Recipe

Hamantaschen Test Kitchen #5: Aunt Dora's Recipe

This is my history.

I used to make these hamantaschen with my mom. Every year.

We used this recipe, from my great-aunt Dora. My mom followed her around (when she was pregnant with me) and wrote down exactly what she did.

Aunt Dora's Hamantaschen Dough
2 sticks margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
6 eggs
5-6 cups flour
4 rounded teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pre-sift together flour and baking powder. Start with 5 cups. If necessary, use the 6th cup in preparation of the dough. Beat margarine and sugar til creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add the flour/baking powder mixture. Add the 6th if necessary. Add vanilla. Mix well.

Roll out very thin (the original recipe said "on wooden board with rolling pin" - do you think there was magic in that wooden board? Must have been. I use Roul-Pat.), cut circles with rim of glass, put in filling. Make the hamantaschen. Bake at 350 until real light brown. Watch your oven, do not over-bake.
(Yep, there wasn't a time listed. I think about 15 minutes.)

My mom even made Aunt Dora's fillings. All are delicious. Worth the work, I tell you.

PoppySeed Filling
1 can Solo poppy seed filling
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon margarine
1/2 cup chopped nuts
lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together, place in pot on the stove. Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Continue to stir and turn down heat to simmer. Add lemon juice (if ncessary to unsweeten) to taste. Simmer for a few minutes. DO NOT LET THE MIXTURE BURN. Remove from heat. Allow to cool, use for filling.

Prune Filling
1 lb pitted prunes
1/2 lb raisins
1 small jar cherry preserves
1 cup chopped nuts

Grind prunes and raisins in food grinder (or electric mixer or blender). In bowl add mixture and cherry preserves and chopped nuts. Mix together, ready for filling.

Apricot Filling
1 can Solo apricot filling
1 package dried apricots (around 6 oz)
1/2 cup water
lemon juice and sugar

Steam the dried apricots in covered pot of water to soften. Remove from water, chop. In bowl mix apricots and filling. Add, if necessary, sugar (to sweeten) or lemon juice (to unsweeten) to taste. Ready for filling.

Wasn't I a cutie-pie?
Yes, this is me and not my daughter. 

Previous Hamantaschen Test Kitchen posts here:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?
Gluten Free Hamantaschen
Chocolate!

Hamantaschen Test Kitchen #4: Chocolate!

This could also be subtitled "The I'm a Bad Ima Cuz I Didn't Want My Kids to Help With These Post" - but maybe that's another day.

Welcome back to the Ima on and off the Bima Hamantaschen Test Kitchen! Today I made two recipes from Marcy Goldman, author of A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking.

The first was her "Basic Hamantaschen Dough," available here.
Then I made a batch of her Chocolate Hamantaschen, which is similar. This version of the recipe was printed in the Washington Post, it's not exactly the same as the one that I made from the cookbook. (There is an online recipe here that also sounds good.)

Both were absolutely fabulous. I'm a new fan of this great cookbook.

The basic dough made a really nice cookie-like hamantaschen. A little sweet, very tasty. The chocolate dough was much softer, but tasted incredible. I would even consider making roll-out cookies with this recipe at other times of the year. Of course, I filled them with chocolate spread, but I also used some nice strawberry jam that I had in the house. Mmmm....

Don't overfill your hamantashen...and I recommend the egg wash, it really helps keep them together.

A finished chocolate hamantashen:

A finished "regular" with strawberry

Then I had the um...inspiration...to make a marble dough. I had scraps of both blonde and chocolate. What do you think? I don't think they're so pretty. Tasty, of course. I have to figure out how to get mine to look like this.

I think that when this is over, I might not want to look at any hamantaschen for a whole year. I'm just sayin'.

Previous Hamantaschen Test Kitchen posts here:
Cream Cheese Dough
Gingerbread?
Gluten Free Hamantaschen

Stick around, I think I might have one more in me. I've got a real desire to try out Yeast Dough Hamantaschen. But I also have to put together some Mishloach Manot...so we'll see!
Stay tuned...