Hamantaschen--Boo, booo

Who doesn't like to boo and hiss at Haman's name? I pulled these out of the oven and called Samuel to ask if he wanted a couple Hamantaschen, his gut response was--"Boo, hiss".
In case you don't know the story, the villianous Haman tried his best to exterminate the Jews only to be thwarted by the mighty hand of G-d through the lovely Esther and her uncle, Mordecai.
Every year during Purim we celebrate by retelling the account from the book of Esther, booing every time the name of Haman is read and clapping and shouting every time Mordecai is read. And of course baking Hamantaschen, named for Haman. Not sure why we are eating cookies named for the bad guy but here they are.

This is a less traditional recipe because it uses real butter and cream cheese. I adapted the dough from a tart dough I have used for years just adding some orange or lemon zest, it is very tender so treat it gently as you work with it lest it become tough.
Hamantaschen
8 tablespoons butter
3 oz. cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon zest
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
jam of your choosing
Zest an orange and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese.
Add sugar, then egg, vanilla, zest and salt, mixing well after each addition.

Mix in the flour just until combined.

Scrape dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper

 and shape into a disc.

Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F.

Dust a work space with flour and sprinkle on top of dough disc also.

Roll to about 1/4 inch thick.

Using a 2-3 inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut the whole piece.

Place each circle onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. This is the best raspberry jam I have ever had, my friend Gail made it, gave me 2 jars and I was saving this last bit for something special, thanks Gail!

Place 1 teaspoon of jam in the center of each circle then run a damp (clean) finger around the perimeter, this will help to seal the dough. 

Pinch the dough at 3 places to form 3 corners, like an old colonial hat.

Bake for 20 minutes. Dough will turn golden and jam will begin to bubble. 

After they cool for a few minutes, hot jam is HOT!, call your resident growing boy to come eat the cookies that came unsealed or bubbled over so no one sees the imperfect ones. If you don't have a pre-adolescent, growing boy just call and you can drop food off here, just kidding, maybe.

Now, go work on your costume for Purim! I'm looking for a three cornered hat to paint golden brown and fill with jam so I can go as a hamantaschen. 

Remember, the mighty hand of G-d is still as mighty as ever to save!