Jewish Kitchen Recipes

Poppy seed filling

½ cup milk
½ cup orange juice
½ cup sugar
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup poppy seeds
½ cup raisins
2 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. vanilla
½ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions for filling:
Put the milk, orange juice, sugar, and zest in a saucepan and cook over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Take the poppy seeds and grind them in a coffee grinder until the seeds are a powder.

Take the poppy seed powder and raisins and simmer in the milk mixture for 15 minutes making sure to stir the mixture frequently.

Add the lemon juice and seasonings and mix thoroughly.

Remove the mixture from the saucepan and place in a bowl and let cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Dough:

3 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
8 ounces sweet butter (softened)
zest of 1 lemon
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (for the egg wash)

Directions for dough:
Place the egg yolks and sugar in a food processor and mix well.

Add the butter, lemon zest and salt and mix gently.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt slowly while you pulsate the processor until it forms a ball.

Preheat oven to 360°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take the dough and cut in half and place it on a surface with enough flour so the dough will not stick.

Roll the dough to a ¼ inch thickness.

Take a circle cookie cutter (3 inches in diameter) and cut out your hamantaschen cookie and place on parchment paper on cookie sheet.

Place a tablespoon of the poppy seed mixture in the middle of the cookie dough and fold the sides to form a tri-fold cookie.

Brush the top of each cookie with the beaten eggs.

Bake the cookies until golden brown, about 14-18 minutes, being careful not to burn the edges.

Place the cookies on a wire rack and let cool.

Yield 16-20 cookies