Chocolate Berry Hamantaschen
Purim begins March 23 and that means plenty of triangle shaped cookies called hamantaschen. The holiday of Purim celebrates Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai’s defeat of the evil Haman who wanted to kill all of the Jews.
As is usually the custom within Judaism, holiday foods are filled with symbolism. Haman wore a triangle shaped hat which is why hamantaschen are in this shape.
Hamantaschen are traditionally made with a butter or pareve (non butter) dough and have a prune, poppyseed or apricot filling. Chocolate Berry Hamantaschen buck the tradition, big time.
The chocolate dough is firm enough to hold the berry filling. I used both strawberry and raspberry jam to fill the dough and found that I actually preferred the strawberry. An alternative is to fill them with speculoos, hazelnut spread, peanut butter spread or grated chocolate.
These are also not traditional because in most hamantaschen recipes, the dough is rolled out and then cut into circles before it is shaped into hats. One problem, I really don’t enjoy rolling dough for cookies.
I found an alternative which is going to be my go-to rolling technique from now on. I shaped the dough into a log, refrigerated it until it was firm and then sliced the dough into rounds. Then it was just a matter of pressing the round slices down a bit, filling them and baking.
If you wish to roll your dough out the old fashioned way, by all means do this. As for me, I don’t think I will ever be rolling a cookie again. This new way is just too Easy peasy to pass on!
| Chocolate Berry Hamantaschen | Print |
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
- ½ ounce semisweet chocolate chips
- 1½ cups (7.15 ounces) all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (.65 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (4.60 ounces) sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon (.10 ounce) vanilla extract
- strawberry jam and raspberry jam
- Melt the unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate together and set aside until the mixture is cool to the touch.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
- Blend in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients. Blend in the melted chocolate.
- Shape the dough into a log approximately 2" in diameter. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Unwrap the dough and cut into ¼" thick slices. Press each slice down on a cutting board so that it is a smooth surface but not paper thin. Slide a metal spatula underneath the dough so that it does not stick to the board.
- Scoop 1½ teaspoons of strawberry or raspberry jam into the center of each circle. Pinch up the circles to form triangles.
- Refrigerate the cookies for 15 minutes.
- Bake at 350° for 14 minutes, rotating front to back and top to bottom halfway through. Cool completely before eating.
