Michael Bell’s Hamantaschen Cookies

• ¼ lb. unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

1. Mix in a food processor until soft and chill for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. You can freeze this dough.
2. Roll out chilled dough on a floured surface. Cut out 3 inch circles using a glass or round cookie cutter.  Place cut cookies on a parchment paper covered baking sheet about an inch apart.
3. Using a teaspoon our a pastry bag, put the filling in the middle of the  each cookie With preserves or jams use a little less because it tends to runs
4. Fillings can be poppy seed, apricot preserves, strawberry preserves, or chocolate added crushed almonds or walnuts to thicken jams or chocolate.  Also look for pastry fillings in the cans for a thicker filling mixture
5. Lightly wet the edges of the cookie and fold to form a tringle. Pinch the corners. Bake the cookies in a 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until cookies are puffy and golden

This makes 2 dozen cookies

Mike’s Poppy Seed Filling

• 1 cup of ground poppy seeds
• ½ cup of milk
• ½ cup of honey
• ¼ cup of chopped raisons
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Combine above ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes stirring mixture until thick. Cool