When I first arrived at the University of Chicago in the fall of 2010, I met one of my current closest friends, Anna. We shared a suite in the dorms during first year, and from the very first time we laid eyes on each other we became inseparable, and it was magic.
Well, actually, it was quite awkward at first. I guess that's what happens when you introduce yourself with the story of how a beverage cart on the plane nearly broke your arm. "Hey, you must be Connie! Nice to meet you, I'm Anna!" "Hi! I nearly died!" Yeah... that pretty much guarantees you an awkward start. Later in the week, we took a tour of the city, which was absolutely beautiful. I sat next to Anna. Throughout the entire trip, we probably spoke about two words to each other. Mostly because I'm partially socially inept and just generally bad at making small talk with people I don't know very well. That and the only thing she knew about me was that I had some recent near-death experience.
In any case, we're very close friends now. Anna takes me on random adventures across the city on occasion, and she introduced me to the greatness that is Improv Shakespeare earlier this year.
On one of our most recent adventures, we (foolishly? brilliantly? perhaps both) signed up to make study break (a time when someone makes snacks for everyone else in our part of the dorm). And because a) Anna is Jewish, b) I'm not Jewish but oddly interested in Jewish holiday traditions, as long as I don't have to fast, and c) Purim was in a few days, we decided to make hamantaschen (which my browser wishes to correct as "enchantments") for probably between 20 and 30 people. I, as a gentile, and she, as not someone who bakes often, did not know what kind of task we were signing up for.
We doubled a recipe we found on Allrecipes by Sharon in order to feed the horde of hungry and stressed college students and learned some things...
- SO MUCH FLOUR. Hamantaschen are really, really doughy, and combining 11 cups of flour into anything is tough with a bad hand mixer and bowls that aren't quite big enough for the task.
- Orange juice helps to make a truly flavorful cookie.
- It's pretty difficult to keep the triangle shape looking nice. Well, at least it was for me. Anna's Jewish intuition must have made her an excellent triangle pincher.
Easy Hamantaschen (makes 24)
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup fruit preserves, any flavor
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until lightly and fluffy. Stir in the oil, vanilla and orange juice. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter to form a stiff dough. If dough is not stiff enough to roll out, stir in more flour. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to 1/4 inch in thickness. Cut into circles using a cookie cutter or the rim or a drinking glass. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of preserves into the center of each one. Pinch the edges to form three corners.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
(Credit: Sharon from Allrecipes)We doubled this recipe, but it somehow made over 70 cookies... I wonder how big everyone else made their hamantaschen! These turned out amazingly, though. The cookie part was firm but crumbly when you bit into it, and it had a slightly sweet and very slightly tart flavor. We used cherry preserves (with a name like Smucker's...) because Anna asserted both that cherry hamantaschen were the best and that any flavor other than cherry and lemon would be an utter travesty. I trusted her judgment, but perhaps I'll experiment a bit next time. We also had to bake for quite a bit longer than what the recipe says. I took them out of the oven after 15 minutes, and the dough was cooked through, but Anna (who would know more than I would) insisted that they should be more brown and harder. This sometimes needed twice the baking time, but it turned out great.
