Old-Fashion Hamantaschen - with a modern tweak!

Since Purim is coming up, I thought a recipe for Hamantaschen would be nice.

For those not in the know, Hamantaschen are triangular-shaped cookies, traditionally served during Purim.  Haman was the bad guy in the story of Purim, another holiday that can be explained as:

They tried to kill us.
We won.
Let's eat!

Depending upon which authority you listen to, Hamantaschen represent either Haman's ears or Haman's hat. They used to be only made with prune filling, but nowadays they can be filled with preserves, nuts or even chocolate.  Despite my love affair with the latter, I really prefer a nice raspberry preserve filling. 

For a modern tweak that's totally optional, lightly brush the assembled unbaked hamantaschen with some of the egg wash.   The hamantaschen will bake up with a lovely golden sheen.  Of course I didn't hear about this until after I made a huge batch o'taschen, but I plan to do this next year and post the results.

Hamantaschen is traditionally made parve (no dairy) so it can be served for dessert after any meal, so that's why I mention marg in the ingredients.  But if you prefer butter, go ahead and use it instead.  I don't judge. 

Old-Fashion Hamantaschen

Yield:  24 - 30 cookies

3 eggs (plus an additional egg mixed with a tablespoon of water for an egg wash, optional)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 stick margarine, softened and cut up
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus up to 1/2 cup more
one scant tablespoon baking powder
1 cup thick raspberry (or any other fruit) preserves, or 1 cup chocolate chips

 In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar together. 
Add eggs and continue beating until light and fluffy.  Stir in oil, vanilla and orange juice.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.  Stir dry mixture into the batter just long enough to form a stiff dough (if not stiff enough to roll out, add up to 1/2 cup additional flour).
Divide dough in half, form each half into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.  Regrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, or overnight (my preference).

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper (or lightly grease sheet).
Unwrap one dough ball.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out circles using a 3-inch diameter biscuit/cookie cutter or drinking glass dipped in flour.

Place cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.  Spoon 1 scant teaspoon preserves (2 tsp. choc. chips) into the center of each cookie (too much filling will leak out).   Pull up 3 sides and lightly pinch ends together to form a triangle, allowing only a little of the filling to show (the open center will open more  when baked).  Place filled cookie sheet in fridge for 15 minutes or freezer for 5.

Roll up scraps, cover in the original plastic to help save the environment, and refrigerate.

For an optional beauty-step: lightly brush the dough part of the cookie with optional egg wash for a golden finish.

Bake in preheated oven for 13 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let cookies cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet to firm up, then remove to a cooking rack. 

Let cool completely.  Repeat with other dough ball, then combine all the scraps if any for a third batch.

Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.  You can optionally freeze them for up to a couple months, just defrost for a few hours still in the container before enjoying.