One of my favorite-ever Purim projects! I had some leftover pressed flowers from last month’s black and white cookies and decided to give these flowery ‘taschen a go. To me, they just feel summery and hopeful and all sorts of other cheerful adjectives that I wish we could all embody right now. But it’s tough, given the state of the world. Which is why these pretty hamantaschen are also my introduction to Hamantaschen for Ukraine, an incredible effort to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees (it was spearheaded by Laurel Kratochvila, the Jewish-American owner of a New York-style bagel shop in Berlin). You can find more info and resources about the initiative right over here.
All week long, I’ll be sharing hamantaschen and Purim ideas while fundraising for HIAS, an incredible, 130-year-old organization that’s near and dear to my heart. HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands simply because of who they are, including members of my own family. Right now, the nonprofit’s emergency response team is doing unbelievable, on-the-ground work to help displaced Ukrainians as they cross into Poland.
I hope you’ll consider donating—you can contribute to my personal fundraiser by viewing my IG profile on your mobile phone and tapping the link that appears just below my bio (for some reason, this feature doesn’t seem to carry over to desktop) or you can donate on your own via HIAS’ website.
Okay, back to the cookies—I wanted to share a quick note about the flowers I used here.
Last year, I introduced you all to my favorite new hobby: pressing fresh flowers using my dad’s old flower press from the ’70s!! As I noted at the time, I remain positively perplexed as to why I did not get my hands on said flower press earlier. It’s MAGICAL. For these cookies, though, I relied on store-bought pressed edible flowers. Both options are available to you, though. You’ve basically got four choices when it comes to working with *pressed* edible flowers:
- You can buy fresh, un-pressed edible flowers and use them as is. There isn’t really a need to use pressed flowers, after all; I just enjoy the look. If you’ve never purchased edible flowers before, you’ll want to check out a local farmer’s market or consider overnighting them from a supplier such as Gourmet Sweet Botanicals. Admittedly, this route can get expensive. Many Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s locations also sell them, but I find the quality a little sad; the flowers are usually not in great condition, lumped into one small plastic container, and they come in very small quantities—so you’re better off spending more money on better flowers. Personal opinion!
- You can buy them fresh and press them yourself at home! I’ll explain more about that below; it’s easier than it looks and is the best way to guarantee that you’re getting certified-edible flowers, since a lot of the store-bought pressed options can be vague/sketchy with regards to their certification.
- You can buy them pressed. I went this route here as a way of supplementing my self-pressed flowers. If you do buy them pressed, it’s really important to make sure you’re buying *edible* pressed flowers—as in, not the pressed flowers that are intended for scrapbooking or crafts. These (edible pressed flowers!) are a little harder to find than fresh edible flowers, and I’ve noticed there’s some sketchy advertising online that keeps things vague when it comes to the, er, edibility. I try not to eat “vaguely edible” things, but you do you. Anyway, you’ll probably be able to locate some of the real stuff at a farmer’s market or online; just take a good look at the claims/certifications before purchasing.
- You can GROW them, then press them, you overachiever, you!!! Just make sure you’re picking edible varieties when you get to planting. As common sense dictates, not all flower varieties can be eaten.
Once you’ve got your flower method of choice, you’re ready to begin! Full tutorial below.
Chamomile-Peach Hamantaschen
- Yield: 15 hamantaschen 1x
Description
Soft, buttery hamantaschen decorated with the prettiest edible flowers and filled with tangy peach jam. Adapted from LeAnne Shor.
Ingredients
For the dough and filling
- 11 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly-grated lemon zest
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- About 1 cup of peach jam (or a standard-sized jar)
For the icing and decorations
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (sift before measuring!)
- 1.5 tablespoons meringue powder (you can get this online and at most baking stores)
- 4–5 tablespoons water
- Pressed chamomile flowers
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minute on medium-high speed. Add the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla; beat briefly, just to combine. Finally, add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the dough comes together.
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap onto a clean, flat surface near your working area, then pour out the dough onto it and flatten into a disc using your hands. Wrap it up tightly and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
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Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. Working with one half at a time (keep the other wrapped up in the fridge to continue chilling), roll it out on a generously floured work surface to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch round cutter (not smaller!) to cut out as many circles as you can, then re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles. (Quick note: I find that with a dairy recipe, thicker is better when it comes to hamantaschen shaping! Don’t make your dough too thin.)
- Fill a small bowl with water and place it near your work area. Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon of jam in the center of each circle. Dip your finger in the water, then run it around the perimeter of each cookie. Without too much “pinching” force so as not to disturb the overall shape of the cookie, bring the top of the circle together to meet in a point, then bring up the bottom of the circle to complete the triangle in just two motions. Once you’re happy with the shape, you can go ahead and pinch gently to create a tighter seal on each of the creases; hamantaschen have a reputation for falling apart in the oven. Place the shaped cookies about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheet, then put the entire pan into the fridge for at least 15 minutes to give them one last chance to firm up and hold onto their shape while baking. Meanwhile, you can get to work on the other half of the dough.
- Bake each batch for about 12-14 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown—I prefer these to be less “done” so that they’re soft!
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing by pouring the confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the ingredients together on high speed for about a minute. The longer you beat he mixure, the thicker the icing becomes. The trick to knowing if the icing is the right consistency is to lift up the whisk attachment and watch as the icing drips back into the bowl; if this happens in about five to ten seconds, it’s the right consistency. If it’s too thick (moving too slowly), you can add in more water, tablespoon by tablespoon. If it’s too thin, you can add in a little more confectioners’ sugar or simply beat it for a longer amount of time.
- Spoon the finished icing into a piping bag (or sandwich bag with a very small hole cut at one corner). Pipe small dots onto the cookies, wherever you’d like for there to be a flower. Use craft tweezers to apply the flowers carefully to each dot of icing, then wait at least 2 hours for the icing to dry, serve, and enjoy!