A little something to help you celebrate Purim

Chocolate Hamantashen recipe

Hamantashen are a Purim tradition. They are triangular cookies that can be filled with a nearly endless selection of options. This recipe includes two filling options and lists other ideas to spur your imagination.

Cookie Dough Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

Directions for Dough

• Cream butter and sugars together, then add egg, and blend thoroughly
• Add milk and vanilla, well mixed
• Sift together in a separate bowl the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt
• Add dry ingredients to wet mixture and mix well
• Place in a plastic zipper bag and flatten dough to fill bag. This will give you a head start when you’re ready to roll it out
• Refrigerate dough for 1 to 24 hours

Cream Cheese Filling

• Using a wire whisk or a fork, beat 1 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese until smooth
• Sift in 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix thoroughly
• Set in refrigerator until ready to use

Peanut Butter Filling

Blend 1 cup peanut butter with 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar; set aside

Assembly Directions

• Prepare a cutting board for rolling the dough by sprinkling generously and evenly with powdered sugar
• Remove dough bag from refrigerator, and cut away and dispose of plastic bag. Place dough on cutting board
• Gently roll out dough to ¼” thickness. Use more powdered sugar on the dough surface, rolling pin, and cutting board to prevent sticking
• Cut circles using a cookie cutter or jar lid 2 ½” to 3” across, dipping the cutter in powdered sugar as needed to avoid sticking
• Set circles aside on dusted cutting board. Gather and repeat, combining and then rolling out remaining dough scraps until you’ve made as many circles as possible from the dough
• Place a dollop of filling mixture in the center of one circle. For smaller circles use ½ teaspoon; for larger,
• use 1 teaspoon
• To form hamantashen triangles: (1) Place finger and thumb under the edge of a dough circle and pinch together to form a point. If the corners aren’t sticking together, dab a tiny bit of water onto the connecting dough surfaces to secure them. (2) Repeat this technique twice more around the dough circle until you have made a triangular nest surrounding the filling
• Repeat with remaining circles
• Place all hamantashen on a baking sheet; bake at 350°F for 8–12 minutes

Options

• Drizzle cookies with caramel topping or melted chocolate
• Add a fresh strawberry slice or raspberry to the center of each cookie immediately before serving. (To prevent the cookies from losing their texture and becoming uniformly soft, do not store fruit-topped cookies.)
• A traditional hamantashen filling is jam (any flavor you like), but you can also use caramel, chocolate or other baking chips including mint, butterscotch, or white chocolate