Sunday is Purim, the celebration of the deliverance of Israel from annihilation at the hand of the enemy as told in the book of Esther. As part of the celebration of God's deliverance, it's customary to give gifts of food, which often include hamentaschen, or Haman's hats, named after the villain of the piece. (hiss, hiss, stomp, clap) (In order to obliviate the very name of Haman, who schemed to destroy God's people, when the story of Esther is read or told, the audience must hiss or stomp or use noisemakers anytime his name is mentioned.)
Hamentaschen are little three cornered cookies or pastries, usually with fruit or poppy seed filling. I came up with a quick and easy version a few years ago that are actually more like a fruit tart, but made in the traditional three-cornered shape, I think they fit the bill quite nicely.
Ingredients:- pie crust--for this I want a smooth, even crust, so I use my old faithful ready-made crusts
- pie filling of your choice--I like cinnamon spice apple, or blueberry
- powdered sugar to sift over the finished product
You need a pie filling with small "bits", so when I do this with apple filling, I use my pastry cutter or a knife to cut the larger slices so that I have smaller pieces of fruit.
Use a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass to cut as many circles as you can get from your pie crust. You can take the bits that are left and re-roll and cut again, if you like. 
Place a small amount of the filling on each circle--I used a heaping tablespoon, and almost overfilled some of mine.
Fold the sides up into the traditional three-cornered hat shape.
It's been a couple of years since I made these, and the first batch I did started coming apart at the corners when they started baking, so I really pinched the corners together on the next batch.
Bake at 400-450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet to a cooling tray. (This was the first batch--see how they started coming apart? Still tasted good, though!)
Dust with powdered sugar right before serving.
These are so good--just the right proportion of crust to filling. You can offer these alone as a finger food, or serve on a plate with little dollop of whipped cream on top, or even in a bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just be sure to give thanks everytime you eat one that God's ear is still open and His handis working behind the scenes to bring deliverance and salvation to those that call on His name!
This post is linked to:
What's Cooking Wednesday at the King's Court IV
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
Until next time--good cooking, and good eating!
We could not find many hamantaschen this year to buy. I think we'll start making our own, too! Yours sound yummy....
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ReplyDeleteUse egg white to help seal the seams of the Hamantaschen after you pinch.
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