Mardi Gras Hamantaschen

Wine Pairing with Lion & Dove Wines
January 13, 2020
Paula Shoyer’s Passover Recipe Index
March 22, 2020

makes 3 dozen

Bake Time:

12 minutes

Storage:

store in an airtight container for up to 5 days

Ingredients

Caramel Filling

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup whipping cream

1 cup chopped pecans

Dough

3 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract\3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

dash salt

purple, green, black and yellow food coloring

Preparation Directions

To make the caramel, place the sugar and water in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat and let sit without stirring until the sugar starts to melt. After several minutes, the sugar at the edges will start to color. Stir the mixture and continuing cooking until it is all melted. When the sugar is a uniform amber color, turn the heat to low, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cream. The mixture will bubble up. Add the butter and cream and stir. Return to the heat and cook for one minute, or until mixture is smooth. Add the chopped pecans and mix well. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool. Chill in the fridge for at least a half hour to thicken the caramel. Store in the fridge for up to five days.

To make the dough, in a large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for one hour to firm up.

Divide the dough into four pieces. Add ¼ teaspoon food coloring to each piece of dough, knead in well, and then divide each in half so that you have 8 balls of dough, two of each color.

Take an 8-inch loaf pan and line with enough plastic wrap to cover the bottom and go up the sides.

Starting with one yellow ball, roll out each piece of dough the size of the loaf pan, about 3 X 8 inches. Place the yellow dough into the loaf pan and press in gently. Repeat with the purple, then green and then black, layering the pieces of dough on top of each other.

Repeat with the remaining balls in the same order: yellow, purple, green and then black. Cover the top with plastic and place into the freezer for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or bake in batches.

Remove the loaf pan from the freezer and use the sides of the plastic to lift the dough out of the loaf pan. Use a sharp knife to slice off the end, which will reveal the colorful layers. Take a piece of parchment paper and dust with a little flour. Slice the dough in 1/3-inch pieces, two pieces at a time. Lay the slices on the parchment paper so the colors are vertical and next two each other and use a floured rolling pin to roll gently. Cut circles in the dough, as close as you can to each other. Fill with 1 teaspoon of the caramel filling and fold up into a triangle. Repeat with the remaining slices of dough.

When you are done cutting the slices, gently press the scraps together, roll them out and cut those into circles and fill. Place all of the hamantaschen on the baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 12 minutes.