Hamantaschen

Just in time for Purim, I'm excited to share my first hamantaschen recipe! The best part of this recipe is that it's baker's choice for your filling - I'll share guidance specifically for chocolate chips, Nutella and fruit preserves, and even with an option to incorporate sprinkles!

This recipe makes about a dozen cookies, and you'll need a 1/2 cup of filling in total if you use chocolate chips or about a 1/4 cup of filling in total if you use any sort of spread like nutella or fruit preserves. If you go with chocolate chips, I recommend using smaller chips and it'll be two teaspoons per cookie. For Nutella or preserves, you'll only need one teaspoon per cookie. I promise you can't go wrong with any of these simple fillings.

One of the most important steps is the shaping of your cookies, and ensuring that your cookie corners are well sealed when creating your triangles. I made two rounds of this dough and though the cookie dough recipe itself remained the same with both batches, there is a key reason that my second batch was a success. I cut and shaped my dough while it was still at room temperature and then I chilled my cookies in the fridge before baking. Shaping the dough at room temperature allowed me to seal my cookie corners really well, and chilling before baking allowed them to keep their shape once they hit the oven.

Ingredients:

Cookie dough

• 1 stick (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature 113g

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 96g

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1 3/4 cup flour 210g

• Pinch of salt

Filling and topping

• Option of:

  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or filling of choice) or,

  • 1/4 cup spread (like Nutella or raspberry preserves)

• Optional toppings:

  • 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 15g

Total time: Under two hours

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 16-18 minutes

Chill time: About an hour

Servings: 12 cookies

Equipment

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Rolling pin

• Round cookie or biscuit cutter just over 3 inches in size

• Sifter or mesh strainer if you plan to top with powdered sugar

Cooking instructions:

In a large bowl, combine your butter and granulated sugar using a spatula or large spoon until you see no streaks of butter. Note: your butter needs to be at room temperature for this and should be soft to the touch. If you need, you can soften your butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Next, add in your egg and vanilla and continue to mix until everything is fully combined.

Add in your flour and salt and continue to mix until a ball of dough has formed.

Add your dough onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, sprinkle with a bit of extra flour and then top your dough with a second piece of parchment. Use a rolling pin to roll your dough out into a circle (about 12 inches around). At this point, if your dough feels too soft, you can place it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the top sheet of parchment paper, and use a round cookie or biscuit cutter (just over 3 inches in size) to cut out circles - I usually can get about 7 or 8. Then, take your scraps, re roll them to the same thickness, and cut out additional circles. You should get about 12 circles in total.

Add your circular cookies onto a large, lined baking sheet. If you choose to use sprinkles, place about 1/2 teaspoon of sprinkles onto each circle cut out and press the sprinkles in, especially at the edges, and then flip your cookie circles over.

Into the center of each cookie, spoon in either two teaspoons of chocolate chips, or one teaspoon of spread (like Nutella or preserves).

Once your filling is in the center, you'll create your triangle shape. I like to start by sealing one corner, and then doing the second two together. There should be only a small space in the center left uncovered by dough, and be sure that you seal the three corners well so that they remain intact when baking - this is much easier to do securely when your dough is at room temperature.

Place your cookies in the fridge to chill for an hour (up to two hours).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake your cookies for 16 to 18 minutes, or until the corners are lightly golden. Once they come out of the oven, you can sift on powdered sugar (I love the look of it and it adds a bit of extra sweetness) or leave them as is - and enjoy!

Carb and serving info:

The below includes carbs from powdered sugar topping

Carbs per serving, Nutella filling (1 of 12): 27

Carbs per serving, Nutella filling and sprinkles (1 of 12): 28

Carbs for full recipe (no sprinkles): 320

Carbs for full recipe (with sprinkles): 338

Carbs per serving, raspberry preserves filling (1 of 12): 28

Carbs per serving, raspberry preserves filling and sprinkles (1 of 12): 29

Carbs for full recipe (no sprinkles): 330

Carbs for full recipe (with sprinkles): 348

Carbs per serving, chocolate chip filling (1 of 12): 27

Carbs per serving, chocolate chip filling and sprinkles (1 of 12): 29

Carbs for full recipe (no sprinkles): 328

Carbs for full recipe (with sprinkles): 346

Use the below details to customize your cookies

Carbs from cookie dough only: 262

Carbs from Nutella filling (1/4 cup total): 42

Carbs from raspberry preserves filling (1/4 cup total): 52

Carbs from chocolate chip filling (1/2 cup total): 50

Carbs from powdered sugar: 16

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.