Hamantaschen High and Low (For You and the Kiddos)

Hamantaschen High and Low (For You and the Kiddos)

Lots of laughter, wild costumes, and of course, the re-telling of the Purim victory tale, are all part of the Purim celebration. The hamantaschen, triangular cookies filled with jam, are always a key component.

And while I’ve seen these favorite cookies in bakeries at other times of the year, nothing signals Purim more delightfully than the tradition of baking these sweet treats in your own kitchen. So with March 16 coming up this weekend, I turned to Melissa Roberts for her creative thinking and easy to follow recipes.

Melissa gives the kiddos what they want with chocolate cookies filled with everybody’s favorite Nutella filling. Then she ramps it up for the grown-ups with more sophisticated anise flavored cookies filled with homemade apricot preserves.

anise and apricot Hamantashen

Both recipes are surprisingly simple. Watch for the shortcuts if you want to take the easiest route possible.

And don’t feel like you have to stick with the grown-ups’ hamantaschen if you yearn for chocolate with your chocolate, like I do.

For more on why we eat these triangular sweet treats, read more here. 

If peanut butter and jelly is everybody’s favorite, check out the recipe we posted last year from Lil’ Miss Cakes,  Melissa Kaye, here.

Let these photos guide you to making the best hamantaschen ever.

Wishing you a joyful, jelly sweet, or Nutella filled, delicious Purim celebration!

 

#1 Roll

#2 cut out

#3 fill

#4 ready to shape

#5 fold and shape

#7 ready to bake

 

 

Chocolate Chocolate Hamantaschen
24 cookies

 Chocolate Chocolate Hamantaschen

This traditional cookie treat has been re-thought by Melissa Roberts for Purim 2014. She ramps up the chocolate factor by using every kid’s favorite chocolatey spread, Nutella.

These hamantaschen are pareve, dairy free.

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
  • 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted margarine or butter substitute, preferably Earth Balance, softened at room temperature
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup Nutella or other chocolate nut spread, or strawberry or raspberry preserves

Instructions

  1. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together margarine and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add flour mixture. Mix on low speed until a dough just comes together. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk.
  4. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.
  5. Line 2 large baking sheets* with parchment. Arrange rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350F.
  6. Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll one piece of dough with a floured rolling pin to a ¼ inch thickness, dusting surface with flour as necessary.
  7. Cut out as many rounds as possible and transfer to baking sheets, arranging them about ½ inch apart.
  8. Re-roll scraps and cut out more rounds.
  9. Put 1 teaspoon filling in center of each round and fold up edges to form a triangle shape, pinching corners together firmly but leaving filling exposed.
  10. If dough is very soft once formed, chill 1 hour, or freeze 30 minutes.
  11. Bake one sheet at a time (keeping remaining sheet chilled) until cookies are firm, and no longer look “wet”, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

Notes

*If you only have 1 baking sheet, cool it completely before baking remaining batch.

Cooks’ notes:

*Dough can be made and kept chilled up to 3 days ahead.

*Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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