Tasty pareve treats for Purim

NORENE GILLETZ

The traditional treat for Purim is hamantashen or oznei haman, as they’re known in Hebrew. Here is a pareve recipe for hamantashen, and a recipe for Haman’s hats, Purim-centric sugar cookies.

HAMANTASHEN
Fill these triangular treats with homemade or store-bought fillings. You can also use thick preserves or canned poppy seed filling.

basic oil dough (recipe follows)
filling of your choice (recipe for five-fruit filling follows)
1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tsps water

Prepare dough and desired filling as directed. (Can be prepared in advance and refrigerated or frozen.) Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide dough into four equal pieces. Flour each piece of dough lightly. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into three-inch circles, using a round cookie cutter or a small juice glass. Place a spoonful of filling on each circle. Bring up three sides to meet, then pinch edges of dough together to form a triangle. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Place on sprayed foil-lined cookie sheets. Brush with egg glaze. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden.

Yield: about four dozen. Freezes well.

BASIC OIL DOUGH
Adapted from The New Food Processor Bible by Norene Gilletz. This dough is excellent as a pareve cookie dough or is ideal for hamantashen.

1 medium-sized seedless orange (thin-skinned)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 3/4 cups flour (approximately)
2 tsps baking powder

Cut orange in quarters but do not peel. Process in a food processor until fine, using the steel blade, about 25 seconds. Add eggs, sugar and oil. Process for 10 seconds. Add flour and baking powder. Process with several on/offs, just until flour is blended into dough. Do not over-process. Dough will be fairly sticky. Remove from bowl with a rubber spatula onto a lightly floured surface. Use as directed.

Yield: enough dough for four dozen.

FIVE-FRUIT FILLING
Adapted from Healthy Helpings by Norene Gilletz.

1 medium seedless orange (thin-skinned)
1 cup raisins
1 cup pitted dates
1 cup pitted prunes
1 cup dried apricots

Cut orange into chunks, but do not peel. Cut away both the navel and the stem end. In the processor, process orange until finely ground, about 20 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and process until finely ground, about 15 to 20 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.

Yield: about three cups. Note: one cup of filling is enough to fill 12 to 16 hamantashen, depending on size. Mixture can be prepared in advance and refrigerated for several days, or frozen.

POPPY SEED SUGAR COOKIES/HAMAN’S HATS
Adapted from The New Food Processor Bible by Norene Gilletz. These easy, versatile cookies are fun to make with the kids! If you cut them in triangles, you can call them Haman’s hats!

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup orange juice or water
3 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
additional sugar for dipping

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, process eggs with sugar, oil and juice until blended, about five seconds. Add baking powder and flour. Process just until mixed, using on/off pulses. Do not over-process. Divide dough into four pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about an eighth-inch thick. Using assorted cookie cutters, cut in different shapes. Dip each cookie lightly in sugar. Place sugar side up on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake for eight to 10 minutes, until golden.

Yield: four to five dozen. Freezes well.

Haman’s hats:
Add 1/4 cup poppy seeds with dry ingredients. Roll out dough thinly, then cut in triangles using a fluted pastry wheel or pizza cutter. Dip in sugar and bake as directed. Perfect for Purim!

Norene Gilletz lives in Toronto and is the leading author of kosher cookbooks in Canada. She divides her time between work as a food writer, culinary consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer and editor. Her motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” For more, visit gourmania.com or e-mail her at [email protected].

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