Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Yummy!


These are so so good, I have to share the recipe with you! But first, their history. I just finished Beth Moore's Esther Bible study. I loved the depth at which we studied the book of Esther and the history of the Jewish people at that time. These cookies are typically made during Purim and are called Hamantashen or Haman's Ears - Haman being the "bad guy" in the story of Esther. They are also said to represent Haman's the cornered hat. Google them, you can learn lots more, I bet! So, bad guy = good cookie! Here's the recipe:

Hamantashen

2 sticks butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp. baking powder
4 cups whole wheat flour or 2 cups whole wheat & 2 cups white flour

Filling: Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune. I used homemade strawberry and blackberry jam. Fruit butters or pie fillings would also work.

1. Cut butter into sugar. Blend thoroughly. Add eggs and vanilla, blending thoroughly. Add baking powder and then flour, 1/2 cup at a time, blending thoroughly between each addition.

2. Put the batter in the refrigerator overnight or at least a few hours.

3. Roll it out to about 1/4" thickness and then cut circles with a cookie cutter or glass. Make sure they're at least 3" in diameter so you have room to fill them and fold the edges over.

4. Put a tablespoon of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, overlapping the sides as much as possible so only a little filling shows through.

5. Bake at 375 for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

I opted for the half whole wheat, half white flour variation for my first attempt. I love the nuttiness of the whole wheat - the cookies are still plenty sweet and they don't taste overly whole wheat. The dough is similar to a sugar cookie dough, but in rolling it out, I found it to be a bit more crumbly. It also didn't need much (if any) flour on the rolling surface. Perhaps I started with too much on my surface and that's why it crumbled. Regardless, these are buttery and sweet and oh so yummy. I really do suggest you give them a try! And check out the cute plate and mug I picked up at the thrift store the other day as well!

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