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
- In a small bowl, mix the fruit filling with ground walnuts, mix well. Set aside.
- Mix all dough ingredients.
- Flour your board, roll out the dough, not too thin.
- Take a 3.5 inch cookie cutter (or a glass/cup) and cut out circles
- Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each circle – DO NOT OVERFILL
- Fold the edges to make a triangle (see picture above)
- Place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- 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.