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)
- Mix in a food processor until soft and chill for a couple of hours in the refrigerator. You can freeze this dough.
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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