I've never eaten a Hamentash, let alone bake one. However I love trying new things, and when I heard about a cookie with a whole cupful of honey in its dough I was all abuzz.
Hamentashen are Jewish cookies that are served primarily during Purim. The name hamantash is believed to refer to Haman, the villain of Purim, and the shape of the cookie represents his tricorne hat. Typically it is filled with a prune or poppy seed mixture, although modern versions see everything from cherries to peanut butter tucked into its honey dough folds.
I opted for poppy seed because several people I know say that's the best and most common, and the result was a buttery sweet cookie with a subtle honey flavour and crunchy texture. During my test bake, though, I found the folds of the "hat" came apart, and the first two test cookies came out looking more like caviar served on crackers. I was pinching the cookies closed in the correct fashion, and not knowing what else to do I whipped up an egg wash to "glue" the tricornes shut.
Success?
Yes!
The filling is made of poppy seeds, raisins, honey and grated lemon zest.
Texture!
Both the manfella and I agreed that these cookies were different, but good. The recipe for Hamentashen can be found on my Recipes page. L'Chaim!
To order these "Cookies for a Cause" please click this link to donate at my Daily Bread Food Bank fundraising page.
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