Perfect Hamentashen Guide
When it comes to baking, our go-to maven is Miriam Pascal from Overtime Cook. We have no idea where the Overtime Cook finds the time, but this guide will give picture-perfect hamentashen! - CookKosher
A couple of months ago, I walked into a corner convenience store near my office and saw that in the glass display case in the front of the store where they normally sell cupcakes and black and white cookies, they were prominently featuring hamentashen. I chuckled to myself when I saw them. Not only because it was months before Purim, but because this non-Jewish owned convenience store and deli wasn't exactly the kind of place I would have expected to see hamentashen.
But over the last couple of months, I have seen these tri-cornered cookies popping up on food blogs, in cookbooks, and stores all over the place. Today, I even saw them in the vending machine at work! And really, it's no wonder. hamentashen are delicious; who wouldn't want to eat them?
Many people get intimidated by the thought of making their own hamentashen. Even some experienced bakers quake in fear at the thought of attempting to make beautifully shaped hamentashen. The process really isn't that difficult though, and today I am going to share with you the secret to my picture-perfect hamentashen.
There are three important rules to hamentashen shaping that you need to remember:
1) Don't overfill your hamentashen. A little bit of filling goes a long way. If you aren't sure how much filling to use, always err on the side of less, because too much filling will cause your dough to open up.
2) Don't roll your dough too thin. This totally goes against what I usually do when rolling out dough, but when there's a little room on the sides, you have more room to pinch the sides together.
3) Here's my big secret. The dough recipe calls for egg yolks only. Reserve the whites! After I shape the hamentashen, I rub a little egg white on the seam where the dough meets (your finger works perfectly for that!). The egg white works as glue to hold the hamentashen together and keep their shape, even then they bake, The beautiful color they give the finished product doesn't hurt either!
Follow the three tips above, and the steps below carefully, and you'll walk past the hamentashen in the bakery (or the corner convenience store!) and feel proud of how much nicer yours look! You won't need to buy hamentashen ever again!
Seeing is believing!
Melinda Strauss from Kitchen-Tested was kind enough to share her before and after photos. Her after shots are testimony to the tips posted above!
Click here to view and print the hamentashen recipe.
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Comments (6)
yum!!
I am so disappointed. I followed the directions for the Hamentashen, did not overfill, did not roll the dough too thin and used the egg whites to seal the seams.. The majority of them opened. Any suggestions?
I wet my fingers with water and run them along the edges of the dough before I pinch the hamentashen together. It works like glue for me. I've been making hamentashen for years but, I am still looking for that perfect bakery type dough (soft and sweet with just the right crispness.)
We have so many choices I'm sure one of them will hit the mark http://bit.ly/zgCb6F
What do you fill them with? I've never had these and they look delicious!
I haven't read your recipe yet but I would like to share mine. Go to my blog: www.amorebakedgoods.blogspot.com and read the Hamantaschen posting for Phyllis' Cookies.