Cherry Hamantashen Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Cream margarine in mixer bowl. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Beat in egg, lemon peel, and vanilla. Add in flour and salt. Beat in water a few drops at a time until dough starts to come away from sides of bowl. Place dough in a 2-quart size bag and form into a flat disk. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2-3 hours and maximum of 2-3 days.
• 2. Roll out dough flat about an 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a round cookie cutter or the top of a cup, cut out circles. (make sure the circles are big enough to hold the filling) Spoon 2 cherries and a little bit of filling onto the dough circles. To fold into the shape of a hamentashen (a triangle) use both thumbs and the two first fingers on each hand. Slide two fingers from left hand under left side and two fingers from right hand under right side and two thumbs under the bottom of circle. Bring all fingers (with dough) together to form a triangle and try to pinch close. Repeat this process with remaining circles and dough.
• 3. Place on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper. Sprinkle a small amount of sugar on top of each one. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or just starting to turn pale golden.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, zest, both juices and brandy until smooth. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until a sticky dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk and chill overnight.
• When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Working with about one quarter of the dough at a time and leaving the remaining in the refrigerator, roll on lightly floured surface a little less than 1/4-inch thick. Cut circles (or other fun shapes) using cookie cutters 2 1/2 to 3 inches. Place a spoonful of filling in center (about 1 teaspoon per cookie) and then pinch one side up. Turn and pinch second and then third to make a triangular shape. Leave a little bit of the filling showing at the top. For non-traditional shapes, use your imagination: tubular, squares, bite-size or even some flat cookies depressed in the center with a bit of filling there.
• Place cookies on parchment paper on cookie sheet, brush with a little beaten egg for sheen and bake until nicely browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Keep room temp in airtight container but consume within 3 to 4 days, tops.
• Combine everything except the lemon zest and juice and the beaten egg into a saucepan and cook over moderate heat until thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir often. Add zest and juice. Take a bit of the filling and mix it into the beaten egg. Repeat, then mix the egg mixture into the pot of filling. Cool overnight.

Steps:

• Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat shortening, sugar, and egg at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add zest and juice and beat until incorporated. Add flour mixture, stirring, until a smooth dough is formed. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.
• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Halve dough. On a lightly floured surface roll out half of dough (keeping other half wrapped and chilled) 1/4 inch thick. With a 3-inch cutter cut out as many rounds as possible. Transfer rounds with a metal spatula to a large baking sheet, arranging about 1/2 inch apart. Reroll scraps and cut out more rounds. Put 1 teaspoon filling in center of each round and fold up edges to form triangular cookies resembling a tricornered hat, pinching corners together and leaving filling exposed. (Pinch dough tightly enough so seams are no longer visible and sides are taut enough to prevent cookies from leaking filling as they bake.)
• Bake hamantaschen in middle of oven 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool hamantaschen on baking sheet 5 minutes and transfer to racks to cool completely. Make more hamantaschen with remaining dough and filling in same manner. Hamantaschen keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the orange juice and vanilla. Mix in the baking powder, then gradually stir in the flour until the dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. I like to do mine overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 3 inch circles using a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place circles on the prepared cookie sheets. Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling onto the center of each circle. (Any more and it will ooze out) Pinch the sides of each circle to form a triangle, covering as much of the filling as possible. The cookies may be frozen on the cookie sheets if desired to help retain their shape while cooking.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light golden brown. These are best undercooked slightly. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.