(Adapted from “The Perfect Hamantaschen”, New York Times)

Andrea Reubin, the talented pastry chef behind Just Sweets, an online bakery that sells luxury desserts with an emphasis on Fair Trade ingredients, shared this kid-friendly recipe.*

“This dough is easy to make,” she said. “Unlike others, it is nice to work with because it’s not too sticky. While I grew up eating apricot, poppy seed, and prune-filled hamentashen, I now prefer filling mine with sour cherry preserves.”

Reubin uses Fair Trade cane sugar and vanilla extract, King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, and fruit-sweetened preserves for filling.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling
• 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture.

Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just blended.

Turn mixture out onto a lightly flour counter and knead dough for a minute or two until smooth.

Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Alternatively, place dough in freezer for 30 minutes.

Melt 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter. Set aside.

Lightly flour counter. Roll out dough about 1/8 inch thick.  Use any size round glass to cut circles from dough.

Put some filling in the center of each circle, about one teaspoon for each 3-inch circle. (A larger circle will require more filling; a smaller one will require less.)

Pinch dough to form triangles; place hamentashen on prepared cookie sheets.

Brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until slightly golden, 10-14 minutes, depending on size of hamantashen.

To make a pareve version, substitute canola oil for butter in dough; use egg

wash (1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water) instead of butter to

brush onto dough before sprinkling with sugar.