Recipe of the Week
Hamentaschen
Courtesy of
Richard Blunt
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Ingredients
Cookie dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 lb. margarine
2 Tbsp. honey
2 eggs
grated rind of one orange
1/2 cup finely ground pecans
2 Tbsp. Lairds Applejack or brandy
Filling:
1 cup poppy seeds
4 Tbsp. raisins
3/4 cup apple juice
3 Tbsp. honey
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1-1/2 Tbsp. margarine
1 Tbsp. Lairds Applejack or brandy
1/3 cup finely ground pecans
Method
Dough:
Combine flour, baking powder and sugar in large bowl. Stir with wire whisk to blend ingredients.
Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut margarine into flour until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal.
In separate bowl, blend honey, eggs, grated orange rind, ground pecans and applejack. Gently stir mixture into flour. Continue stirring only until all ingredients are incorporated.
Shape dough into ball, dust lightly with flour, wrap loosely in waxed paper and place in a gallon-sized ziplock plastic bag. Refrigerate dough for at least 6 hours.
Filling:
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine poppy seeds, raisins, and apple juice. Simmer mixture over low heat until seeds start to soften and mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Add honey, sugar, grated lemon rind, margarine, and applejack. Continue to simmer mixture for another 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in ground pecans and set mixture aside to cool. When cool, place filling in an airtight container and refrigerate along with dough.
Assembling and baking the cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Remove the dough and the filling from the refrigerator and let both set at room temperature for 30 minutes. To make rolling the dough easier, divide it into 2 equal-sized pieces.
On a lightly-floured surface, gently roll the first half of the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/8-inch. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can, about 18.
Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of each cookie. Form trianglar pyramids with each cookie by folding the edges of the dough up on 3 sides of the circle. Gently shape the raised edges up over the filling to form a pocket. Pinch the points of the newly formed pyramid to prevent the sides from falling during baking.
Place cookies on lightly-greased baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
