Thursday, February 21, 2013

Parve Hamentaschen Dough

I made two batches of hamentaschen this week-one with a butter-cookie base, the other with oil. We still can't decide which we prefer. The oil dough, which I'll give the recipe for here is crisper, and would be excellent dunked in tea. To keep the comparisons fair, I used the same fillings (apricot, prune, and poppy) in both batches.

This recipe comes from Kosher Cookery, Frances r. AvRutic 1991.

4 large eggs
3/4 cup oil (I used corn oil)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
4 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Make dough at least an hour before rolling out as it needs to chill.

Combine eggs, oil, sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Sift together dry ingredients, and add to egg mixture. Mix well. Divide dough in half, wrap in cling film and chill.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Assemble your fillings. Grease a baking sheet.

I found it easier to roll this dough between pieces of cling film, which enabled me to avoid toughening the dough with extra flour. It is a very soft dough.

Use a 2-3 inch round cutter. Roll dough about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Plop a bit of filling in the centre, then fold up into a triangle. Place on baking sheet. Lightly brush hamentaschen with the egg mixture. Bake about 20 minutes (the recipe said 30, but that was much too long) but start checking at 15. You may wish to rotate the pan. Cool on racks. Makes about 40 hamentaschen.

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