Not So Perfect Hamantashen

Hamentash or Hamentashen(en for plural) is a pastry/cookie in Jewish Cuisine with a three cornered or triangle shape.It is usually eaten during the Jewish Festival of Purim.Purim represents the victory of Jewish people from the evil plotting of Haman.The pastry's three cornered shape is achieved by folding the dough over a filling in the centre .The filling can be anything from fruits,nuts,preserves etc.The pastry is supposed to represent the hat of Haman,the villain of Purim.

For this month's Taste & Create by Nicole,I was partnered with wonderful Stef of CupcakeProject.As the blog name suggests there are wonderful and artisan cupcakes and I had bookmarked some as well.But suddenly I stumbled upon the Hamentashen recipe she had made from a Jewish cookbook.She had given stepwise instructions and pictures and the recipe seemed too easy,but me being me ,the cookies does not look perfect.Well theres always a next time.

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour: 1 cup
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Sugar: 2 and 2/3 tbsp (I used 3 tbsp)
Salt :a pinch

Unsalted Butter: 1/4 cup softened

Egg: 1
OR
Ener G Egg: 1 made from blending 1.5 tsp of Ener G Egg replacer powder and 2 tbsp of warm water.

Filling: fruit preserve : I used pineapple jam

Can also use your choice of filling

Preparation:

In a bowl,sift together flour,salt,sugar and baking powder.Add in softened buter and Egg and combine to obtain a cookie dough.

If using Ener G egg make sure you add atleast 2 tbsp of additional water as the dough can be dry.I added 2.5 tbsp of water.The dough will still be a bit sticky and crumbly. Roll it out on lighlty floured surface to atleast 1/4 inch thickness,though this is optional.The hamentashen cookies can be made thick or thin as per choice.
Using cookie cutter of 3" diameter cut out dough circles.Take a circle,put a dollop of filling on the centre and fold the edges over the filling.

The dough with a first fold looks like

You can moisten the edges with water so that they will stick together during baking.Place on a lined or greased cookie sheet.

A finished cookie looks like..

Do so with other dough circles and bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 400F for 10+ minutes until the sides start browning.Start checking from 8 minutes onwards.

As per Stef,the cookies will be crisp and crunchy,but I went for a bit lower temperature and baked these for 10 minutes and got a bit cakey or soft cookie.My first batch was a disaster as the folds opened during baking and though the taste was there,the shape was not there.Second batch came out much better than expected.The folds become better after practice,atleast in my case.So Stef, thanks for the keeper recipe and Nicole,thanks for allowing me to post about this today as I could not do so earlier.

Do checkout Stef's step by step pics and also the Purim story video.