Hamantaschen: Reinvented

I have to admit it, I was always quite the Hamantaschen-hater. Never really had digs for this triangular Purim cookie - they always seemed a little stale, or loaded with preservatives to keep them soft... The filling never did it for me either; prune, poppy - and I'm out. This year I decided to get my holiday baking on with Freida, and for educational purposes there would be no skipping the  buttery dough. I searched around a bit for a recipe that appealed to me, but in the end I mixed bits and pieces from a few different places and wound up with a rather bright and fresh tasting dough! I also decided to improve from the inside out, and went with some filling I love - strawberry-rhubarb. Let me tell you, these little cookies came out perfectly buttery, flaky, sweet, and fresh!! Thought I'd share the recipe...

Hamantaschen:

- 1 1/2 sticks butter/margarine, softened

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 teaspoon (or more) lemon zest

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 3 cups all purpose flour

I used a mixer to cream the butter with the sugar, added the egg etc. It looks really crumbly at first, so put the mixer on high and let it pund out some good-looking dough. Form the dough into a large disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. Flour a surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick, and cut out circles (you can use the lip of a glass) to lay on cookie sheet. Drop a teaspoon of filling in middle of each circle, and pinch 3 corners into a triangle (if it doesn't want to stick - use some water). Bake for 17 minutes on °375. Let cool (lest your scorch your palette with searing jam!).

P.S. I'm currently obsessed with ikat print! I was overjoyed to find these beauties at Marshalls, but can find ikat napkins like that one here.