For the past month there has been a dark cloud hanging over me, but today I decided to “live in the moment”. And living in the moment means baking cookies! I know it may sound silly, but being in the kitchen is what makes me happy, and allows me to shift my attention elsewhere and not think about all the sad/negative things happening around me. So….today is Purim! A Jewish holiday celebrated by dressing up in fun costumes, attending festivals, and eating yummy food. In other words, it’s a Jewish version of the Mardi Gras 🙂

I decided, my first time ever, to bake Hamantaschen cookies. These buttery, triangular shaped cookies are usually filled with a fruit jam of some kind. Traditionally, I think they were filled with poppy seeds, but since I have plenty of strawberry preserves in the fridge, I decided to put it to good use. In addition, I added some ground walnuts to the filling as well. It adds nuttiness and texture. Normally, the dough for these cookies is made with butter – sort of like a shortbread cookie, but I decided to add my spin on it and added sour cream to make the dough soft and easy to work with. A buttery dough is usually tough and hard to roll out, so if this is your first time making Hamantaschen cookies, I would recommend you follow the recipe below. This may not be a 100% Jewish-style dough recipe, but this is MY version. Happy Purim!

Makes about 12-15 cookies. Feel free to double this recipe. Add more flour and/or sour cream if the dough is dry or too wet.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 1/4 cups of All-purpose Flour, plus more for rolling
• 1/4 cup Sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
• 1 stick of Butter (softened, at room temperature)
• Vanilla and/or Orange Zest (I used both)

Filling:

• 1 cup of Fruit filling of choice (I used strawberry preserves)
• Handful of ground walnuts or pecans

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the fruit filling with ground walnuts, mix well. Set aside.
2. Mix all dough ingredients.
3. Flour your board, roll out the dough, not too thin.
4. Take a 3.5 inch cookie cutter (or a glass/cup) and cut out circles
5. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each circle – DO NOT OVERFILL
6. Fold the edges to make a triangle (see picture above)
7. Place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  
8.  Apply eggwash to each cookie (optional, but I used it, which adds a golden brown color to the cookies)

Bake at 350(F) for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a baking sheet. Store in an air-tight container.