Hamentaschen

I had two "special" kinds of Hamentaschen lined up for Purim this year.  But I couldn't find a plain hamentaschen recipe.  And seeing as I've never baked hamentaschen before, I figured I should start with the good old fashioned plain ones.

So it was pure luck that I came across a blog today in which she raved about her "crisp and classic" hamentaschen.  They sounded tasty and easy, since there was no refrigeration of the dough before rolling it out.  And being that they were pareve (meaning non-dairy and non-meat containing), I didn't have to wait for any butter to warm to room temperature (which, incidentally, I did take out butter before I left for one of the "special" varieties I had thought about making).

I set out to make "regular" sized cookies.  I didn't have a big circle cookie cutter, so I tried using a small prep bowl.  That didn't work.  So I ultimately went with my small circle cookie cutter, which resulted in mini hamentaschen.  Which is pretty funny, considering that I love mini baked goods but in this particular instance didn't set out to make.  If B could see them right now, he'd totally make fun of me, since he often makes fun of me for my love of and fascination with all things mini.  It's because I told him the mini baguette he bought at Whole Foods was "so cute."

This little platter was a gift from a coworker for Purim a few years ago.
It's a baker holding a tray of hamentaschen -- perfect for a plate of them!

Now for the one downfall of this recipe.  The dough is a B*TCH to work with.  OMG.  It's so soft and sticky.  I ended up using about 3.5 cups of flour to make the dough.  And then I had to use a ton of flour on the counter (which I covered in wax paper), and then on top of it, and then once I started rolling it out and pieces of dough weren't coated with flour, I had to re-coat it.  But despite this, they were delicious and frankly, I'd suffer through all of that again!  Or maybe just add even more flour to the dough...

Crisp and Classic Hamentaschen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil, since thats what I had)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour plus more as needed (and boy did I need it....I used about a half cup, and probably could've used a little more!)

Jam or preserves for filling (I chose raspberry, apricot, and pineapple).

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cream the oil and sugar together until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Add the orange juice and vanilla.
Mix well.

Mix the baking powder, flour, and salt together and mix into the dough.
You may need more flour, so add more flour by the 1/4 cup full until it is the consistence of a cookie dough.

Flour your rolling surface (I covered my counter with wax paper, then floured that, then put the dough on top, then floured it again, and covered with another piece of wax paper before rolling it out).
Take small portions of the dough at a time and roll out the dough so that it is thick enough to hold the filling but not too thick.  
Using the top of a glass or a round cookie cutter, cut circles out of the dough.
Place 1/2 tsp of desired filling in the center of each circle.
Form hamentaschen -- first crimp together the top of circle to form the peak of a triangle and then lifting up the bottom of the dough and pressing it to the sides to form a triangle.

Place on a baking tray and bake for 7-10 minutes (my mini ones took 7 minutes) or until lightly golden brown.