Hamantaschen (TNT)

PieSusan

PieSusan

Tortes Are Us
Hamantaschen (TNT)
Based on a recipe by Jennie Grossinger's book "The Art Of Jewish Cooking"
These taste like the best Danish you will have ever eaten. I prefer the yeasted variety to the cookie type.
Yield: approximately 42

Ingredients:
2 packages yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3/4 cup scalded wholemilk, cooled
5 cups flour, sifted
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1 cup melted sweet butter (two sticks of sweet butter, melted)

Filling: apricot lekvar, cheese, cherry, Nutella, poppyseed, prune lekvar
beaten egg yolk, for brushing

Directions:
Soften the two packages of yeast in the 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes, then add the proofed yeast to the milk. Stir in 2 cups of the flour (reserve the remaining 3 cups of flour), the sugar and the salt. Beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in the melted butter and remaining flour. Switch to the dough hook and knead for a few minutes. Next, you will want the dough to rise. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with a towel or saran wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk or refrigerate over night. If you chose to refrigerate, bring the dough to room temperature and then continue with the recipe. Punch down the dough and knead on a lightly floured board for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough in half or quarters and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Keep the remaining dough covered in saran and place in refrigerator. Using a 6-1/2 inch round (I use a dessert plate) cut out rounds. Place a heaping amount of filling on each round and fold dough into a triangle (if you envision a peace sign it will help you understand how to fold a triangle from a circle), and sealing the edges well. Place on large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Reroll the scraps, and make more hamantaschen. Again, let rise until doubled in size and brush with beaten egg yolk. Bake the hamantaschen in a 375°F oven 25 minutes or until browned. Check the bottom to be sure they do not burn.

Comment: For hamantaschen cheese filling recipes go to:
http://www.netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1850
 
These are very good..... Susan is right... best danish ever. I love these. Wish I had the patience to bake..... but for you bakers.... highly recommended.
 
Hamentashen is one thing I do not like to use yeast for. Sorry, just not my cup of tea. Even though my mom uses it.
 
CharlieD, everyone has their own food preferences. It is fine with me. These are my favorite. When I make my shalach manot baskets, these are always in there.
 
I have a question about the yeast. When I make my rolls which are about the same amount of flour, etc, I use one package of yeast. Why would you be using two?? Is it because of the extra sugar, greater speed, etc?? Thanks.
 
A lot of old-fashioned recipes say to scald milk. Some say that you don't have to but others say you do. You don't want to use cold from the refrigerator milk because it is not good for the yeast. As for the recipe, this formula said to use two packages of yeast, so that is what I do. I have made this recipe for years and have gotten raves. It is tried and true. Once when Purim fell on St. Patrick's Day, I decorated them with little green shamrocks. At one time, the Mayor of Dublin was Jewish and it was my way of honoring his memory and besides they looked so darn cute!
 
PieSusan said:
A lot of old-fashioned recipes say to scald milk. Some say that you don't have to but others say you do. You don't want to use cold from the refrigerator milk because it is not good for the yeast. As for the recipe, this formula said to use two packages of yeast, so that is what I do. I have made this recipe for years and have gotten raves. It is tried and true. Once when Purim fell on St. Patrick's Day, I decorated them with little green shamrocks. At one time, the Mayor of Dublin was Jewish and it was my way of honoring his memory and besides they looked so darn cute!
Click to expand...


I grew up on a Dairy Farm with Brown Swiss Cows (and I miss it, too) and my grandmother always scalded the milk for recipes, but I always assumed that was because we had "Fresh" milk, but I was never told that for sure. I just assumed that since I dont have the dairy anymore and use bought milk that it was unnecessary, but again, I never knew that for sure.
 
As for making a triangle out of a circle. Draw a circle and then, turn it into a peace sign. You are going to bring up the edges/arcs so that it forms that kind of a triangle. Be sure that you pinch to seal well. All the filling should be sealed in the hamantaschen.
 
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PieSusan said:
Why milk is scalded:
http://kitchensavvy.typepad.com/journal/2005/05/scalding_milk.html
Click to expand...

Thanks. Most of the reasons seemed to be irrelevant in already pasteurized milk, but this one got my attention.

******

Scalding the milk gives a certain good flavor to some recipes. Recipes for vanilla ice cream and custard and many other things. Check it out. My grandmother used to make ice cream to die for. I could not seem to duplicate it using her recipe. The difference turned out to be the scalded milk she used.

******

While I am not one for doing unnecessary steps, I will begin scalding and see if I can tell any difference. It is worth a try to see what happens.

Thanks for the Link.
 
:a1:

The egg wash got a little spotty, but the taste was wonderful. There were some questions about shaping the Hamantaschen, so I added pictures. Oh, and in the last picture, the Hamantaschen on the far right are NOT that color. They all looked the same as far as color. That's some lighting trick, sorry.
 

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Beautiful! Next time, try to pinch them tighter when you seal them so that they won't burst open. It rarely happens to me anymore although when I first tried, I called those "mine". Further, might I suggest that you apply the egg yolk wash a bit more evenly--they will be glossy and more even colored if you do. Sometimes adding a tiny bit of water helps make the wash easier to apply. I also add it before the last rise.
 
My Russian born bubby used to make the yeast ones; I didn't think anyohe made thtem in the New World. My father passed 9 years ago; I would have liked to have made him that recipe.
 
The recipe sounds great, and those pictures really helped me cause I was trying to imagine them but was having trouble, LOL.
Thanks!
 
The hamantaschen of my childhood did not allow the filling to peek through. The cookie ones do but when the yeast ones do, it is either because they popped open because they weren't sealed properly or because the baker didn't want to keep the differently filled one separate and have to remember which is which.

I will be making apricot, poppyseed (mohn), prune, cherry and raspberry this year (G-d willing).
 
I have prune lekvar, mohn (poppyseed), cherry, raspberry and apricot lekvar in the house to make them. I just have to get off my ass and get them done. Who knows maybe I will even get out the digital camera and try to snap picks.
 
These are some hamantaschen that I made. Again, I am learning how to use a digital camera--there is a learning curve.
 

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i said i was near my friend's yesterday & shoulda brought her a few containers from the store. now she is beyond hinting i bake her some. i'd like to. thing is, i have not heard of/seen these til we met as she is Jewish (i'm Catholic) & she explained them to me. we give each other quite a few favors. i'm making her a batch if i opt not to buy them for her; she luvs 'em. i owe her one. any pointers on them- the dough, consistency- appreciated! shouldn't of commeneted on her pix of her kiddo's costumes then her hamentashen, hehe. meh, she's my friend; give
& give alike, i say. she's aware of my disdain for baking. bra





























































































































































t, hehe.
:)
 
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