In the spirit of sharing family recipes with our Ramah Recipes book and new programs coming up this kayitz, I decided to use this opportunity to share one of my favorite family recipes for hamentashen. The recipe is from the 1964 Temple of Aaron cookbook and as evidenced by this photo, it is a book well-used. While most of my friends grew up with chocolate and peanut butter hamentashen, I grew up with prune filling and this recipe is my absolute favorite. I have copied down the recipe below to include our notes and changes throughout the years. -Anna Glassman-Kaufman, Rosh Mitbachon
Hamantashen
Dough:
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
Juice from ½ lemon & orange
4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Prune Filling:
1 lb pitted prunes
¼ lb yellow raisins
1 cup walnuts
¼ lb dried apricots
Rind & juice of 1 lemon
Rind & juice of 1 orange
¼ cup cherry jam
Beat eggs, add sugar, oil, and juice. Next add flour, baking powder, and salt until all ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate dough at least 2 hours.
To make the filling, combine all ingredients in a food processor to make a coarse paste.
Roll dough to about ¼ inch thick. Cut circles of dough with cookie cutter or with a glass and put a small spoonful of filling in the center. Pinch to a triangle shape and bake at 350° F for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
