Makes about 30 cookies
The traditional cookie of the Jewish holiday Purim (this year on March 16th), celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people from the Persian prime minister Haman’s plot to kill all of them in a single day. They likely originated in Bohemia 200-300 years ago. The cookie’s iconic shape represents Haman’s ears – cut off before he was hanged! The classic version has poppy seeds, but we’ve gone the walnut direction feel free to substitute with pistachios or pecans.
Ingredients
- DOUGH
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 cups pastry flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Juice from half a medium sized orange, plus its zest
- FILLING
- 1 cup toasted walnuts (or omit and substitute with ½ cup jam)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp almond, vanilla or orange extract
- 1 Tbsp your favorite brandy or cognac
- 4 dried apricots, roughly chopped ½ cup apricot jam and ½ cup raspberry jam
Directions
To make the dough:
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Beat the butter, sugar and orange zest until it just comes together. Add the egg, vanilla and orange juice and then add in the flour mixture until just combined. Shape into an 9” disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
To make the filling:
Combine all the filling ingredients except the jams into a food processor and process until combined – there should still be a little bit of “nuttiness” to the filling left. Add each jam to a separate bowl and divide the processed filling between the two, mixing jam and filling together.
Once the dough is firm, roll out on a floured surface and cut out 3” circles. Put a tablespoon of the filling in the center and brush the edge of the dough circle with water. Fold in a third of the circle three times to make a triangle, leaving the a little bit of the filling showing in the center.
Bake on parchment or buttered sheet pans at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until barely golden.