from the archive, just in time for the holiday.

Purim has always been my favorite of the Jewish holidays; aside from dressing up in costume and sounding grogers (noisemakers), I've always loved reading the Megillah, the scroll containing the Book of Esther. For one thing, the Purim story details Queen Esther's evolution from passive niece of Mordechai to wielder of the Jews' destiny. For another, the book is riddled with puns, allusions, and other strokes of literary genius that make it genuinely fun both to read and to hear. But among Purim traditions, perhaps the most widely-kept one is the consuming of copious amounts of alcohol hamentaschen.

Hamentaschen are an essential part of any Purim celebration. Fashioned, according to some, after the Haman's hat pocket, hamentaschen are cookies filled with anything from poppyseed to raspberry jam to Nutella, and folded up to resemble a triangle. They're not too sweet, flavored with vanilla and lemon zest, and perfectly crunchy outside while soft within. Everyone has a favorite filling, and mine — poppyseed — is, unfortunately, hated by many folks. My love of poppyseed has no real explanation, considering that I don't much enjoy other poppyseed-filled treats, but hey, I love 'em. Whatcha gonna do about it?

The number of hamentaschen recipes I've tasted reaches the teens. From the ones in Israel (which are non-dairy, and inevitably made with way too much scary margarine) to three of my mom's recipes, to countless others we receive from friends each year, I settled on my uncontested favorite long ago. That recipe, which I'll post here, is what I have used to make hamentaschen for three years running. While other recipes may be easier to work with, they produce a cookie that's neither crunchy nor chewy, but merely soft and unpleasant to bite. They come out more cake-y than they should, and less flavorful as well. The recipe I post here requires a fair amount of patience, but the resulting hamentaschen make up for the (minimal) hassle. You'll see.

With Purim fast approaching (it's this Thursday night and Friday), I got started on my baking today. By now, many of you may have already started baking, and I know a few of you emailed me asking for the recipe. I'm sorry to say that I accidentally called for 1 cup of butter when the recipe actually only calls for 2/3 cup. However, extra calories aside, the mistaken recipe indeed produces excellent hamentaschen; I tried it today just to make sure. They were delightfully crispy and cookie-like, just as I love them. For the rest of you, the true recipe is below. Please note that if you need to make twice or three times as much as the recipe produces, make several batches; this recipe does not like to be doubled.

I really wanted to get this recipe up asap, and as a result, my pictures aren't up to par. I'm going to snap some more as I make different batches, and hopefully some of those will be a bit more drool-worthy than the ones I have posted.

Hamentaschen

• 2/3 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. lemon extract or lemon zest (I prefer the latter)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2-3 cups flour

1. Cream butter and sugar about 1 minute.
2. Add egg and extract/zest, and mix about 1 minute more.
3. In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, salt, and 2 cups of the flour.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix on low to combine.
5. Add up to one more cup of flour, just enough that the dough comes together and does not feel sticky.
6. Gather dough into plastic wrap or wax paper, and refrigerate 30-45 minutes (much longer, and it'll be tough to work with).
7. Sprinkle working surface with flour, and roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick.



8. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, slice cookies out of the dough.
9. Lift each circle off the table to ensure that it doesn't stick.
10. Drop about a tsp. of filling onto each circle.
11. Wet the rim of the circle with a bit of water, and bring up the sides to form a triangle (as pictured).
12. Place on a baking sheet with 1/2-1 inch room in between hamentaschen.
13. Bake for 10-16 minutes at 375 degrees, until the tips of the triangles are golden.
14. Allow to cool completely before storing, and if you are tempted to try one with jam inside, wait a while or it'll burn your tongue!

Store in between layers of wax paper in an airtight container.