This hamantaschen recipe with orange and olive oil shines at Purim. Whether you fill these Purim cookies with poppy seeds or prune butter or your favorite jam, these 3-sided filled pastries are delicious all year round!
zest of ½ an orange or whole orange(½ if using orange olive oil, whole if using regular olive oil)
¼cuporange juice(use the juice from the zested orange)
1egg
⅓cuporange or regular extra virgin olive oil
1teaspoonvanilla
Egg Wash
1egg
1teaspoonwater
Fillings:
Use jams or Nutella or my homemade prune butter or poppy seed filling.
Instructions
Preparing the dough:
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another medium sized bowl, add the sugar and orange zest and use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until thoroughly combined. To the sugar mixture, add one egg, olive oil, orange juice, and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly combined.
Add the wet mixture into the flour mixture to form a dough. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to combine before kneading the dough with your hands. It will come together easily. It may be a bit wet - that's ok.
Form the dough into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least a half hour or even overnight.
Fillings and Egg Wash
While the dough is chilling and resting, prepare your cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone liner. Prepare your fillings and wash.
Forming and Baking
Take out one half of the dough at a time from the refrigerator and roll it out between parchment paper or on a well-floured work surface to about ⅛ inch thick - really as thin as you can roll it without it falling apart. It doesn't have to be perfectly shaped as you roll it, just fairly even in thickness.
Use a 3" or 2.5" round cookie cutter to cut out as many circles as you can and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheets. Using a pastry brush, brush each circle with egg wash and then place a scant teaspoon of filling in the center. Cinch up the dough to form a triangle (see the video) and be sure to close each corner firmly.
After your have filled and formed each one, refrigerate the tray for about half an hour. This ensures they stay closed while baking. While the cookies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Remove the tray, egg wash each cookie and sprinkle a bit of sugar on each (egg wash and sugar are optional). Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes but check them at 15 minutes. Place on a cooling rack once out of the oven. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea or deliver to your friends in a festive Mishloach Manot basket.
Video
Notes
Store-bought fillings are a great option! But if you want to make your own fillings, check out my recipe for lekvar or poppy seed filling.
Be sure to chill your dough before working with it. If it becomes too warm while rolling and cutting out your circles, just pop it in the fridge for a few minutes.
Don't overfill your circles and remember to egg wash the interior. Egg washing the exterior is optional.
Refrigerate your formed cookies before baking as a last step to ensure perfectly baked hamantaschen!
This is a great recipe to get your kids or friends involved. It is not hard but the assembly goes much more quickly with helpers.