Ode to my bro...and hamantaschen on steroids

I always felt bad for my friends that didn't have big brothers. It's like they were missing a puzzle piece, and they couldn't understand what they were missing. Its a special relationship, and you really can't know what it's like unless you have one. My big brother went to high school out-of-state, and only came home for occasional weekends, so I am sure that helped to idolize him in my eyes. Not that he isn't awesome. 'Cuz he totally is...by default, as he is my older brother. (D'uh!) But that's not the point. He actually inspired my early baking career. He probably doesn't realize this, but who else looked the other way when he would walk by and casually swipe a huge chunk of cookie dough out of the bowl? (While whistling and looking all innocent.)

Who, I ask ya. Only an adoring younger sister, that's for sure! And who else would lovingly bake chocolate chip cookies and package each cookie individually for maximum freshness and ship them to her big brother?? Definitely a younger sister! (K, he went to an all boys school , so there might have been an ulterior motive there-as in maybe my future husband would eat my delicious cookies and we would have a romantic story from the get-go. It was love at first bite. Turns out Big D. was not there. Oh well. It's a good thing I still found him,even without the cookies!) So, now as an adult, I look back and think how nice life turned out that I got myself a pretty decent older brother. And speaking of decent older brothers....guess what he sent me? A camera upgrade! That's what! 

(Requisite new camera macro flower picture)

Its amazing to have a sibling that shares the same hobby- you always have someone to talk "shop" with. And both me and my brother (I know that grammar is not right, but honestly I have no clue how you word that sentence!) share a passion for photography, and its always interesting to see how we channel that differently. One thing that is definitely different is the quality, and that may be, but not for sure, (because he is super talented) because we have very different cameras. While I always feel like I am pushing my point and shoot camera to the absolute limit, (literally, it wheezes!) AM breezes by with his fancy DSLR camera. So one day a few weeks ago, while I was moaning and groaning to him about how lucky he is, he said "Hey, my old higher end point and shoot is just sitting around collecting dust-do you want to use it?" And I was like, "Really? Really? Are you serious?! Pllleeeeaassse." Because even though his camera is a point and shoot, its just a drop under a DSLR, and takes beautiful pictures. And just like that! He shipped it off to me and here we are. So AM- you rock. And if you were here, I would totally let you eat the dough. Or the cookies. Whatevs.

In other news, I got a recipe request! One of my first, but very exciting, since I am always up for a challenge. A reader e-mailed me and asked me to please post a recipe for hamantaschen with homemade fillings. Now, there is a slight problem with that. I really don't like hamantaschen. There's something so hamantaschey about them- you know what I mean? Granted, if I am in a car with three hyperactive, sugar crazed monkeys, and I skipped lunch so I am starving, and you stick a cellophane wrapped plate of hamantaschen under my nose, I probably would devour them. But I wouldn't enjoy them all that much. And I might eat a smashed cupcake first. Just sayin'. So this reader got me thinking- how can I post a hamantaschen recipe that I actually like? So basically, I did just that- I took my favorite sugar cookie recipe, and my favorite brownie recipe and they had a baby!

Then I felt a little bad, because she really did ask for a homemade filling recipe, and most normal people on this earth probably do not classify brownies as a normal hamantasch filling, so behold my next brainchild:

Wait for it....

Bet you are scratching your head saying, "Now why didn't I think of that?" 
Just a glimpse of my geniusness folks,just a glimpse. 
And my humility too, obviously.
And by the way, my anti-hamantasch self absolutely approved of these hamantaschen. They were actually a little too good for their own good...or my diet if ya know what I mean.
 Now, in case all of you are shaking your head saying " Can't we just get a regular hamantasch recipe? Please?" I shall be most gracious, and post my go-to hamantasch recipe. So let's get started, shall we?

Sugar Cookie Hamantasch Dough                                                  Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Cream together the butter/margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, scraping sides occasionally. Reduce mixer speed to low, and stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (don't skip this step!) or overnight.

Brownie Filling

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

(egg white- for forming hamantaschen)

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter/margarine in a medium sized saucepan. Remove from flame and allow to cool slightly. Add in sugar, eggs and vanilla and stir (by hand) until smooth. Stir in cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Keep in mind that since these brownies will be used as a filling, they do not have to be perfectly ready- in fact, its easier to fill the hamantaschen if they are slightly under-cooked. 

To assemble: Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll out cookie dough to the same thickness as you would for sugar cookies, or slightly thicker. Be careful not to roll the dough out too thin- or you will get holes in the hamantasch as you fold it. Using a large glass, cut out circles from the dough. Using a cookie scoop or a melon baller, scoop out a ball of brownie. Place in the center of the circle, like this:

Smear some egg white around the edges of the circle, and fold the top two sides until they are touching.(Since the filling here is a relatively solid ball, as opposed to soft jelly filling, you are really just folding the sugar cookie over the top of the brownie ball to form a  hamantash shape- it's not an actual pinch like a traditional hamantasch.)  Fold the bottom side up and pinch lightly. Your finished hamantasch should look basically like this:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Arrange formed hamantaschen on the pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Drizzle cooled hamantaschen with Basic Chocolate Glaze. Makes 50 large hamantaschen.

And now for the Apple Pie Hamantaschen:

Prepare the sugar cookie dough above. (Each recipe of filling makes enough filling for one recipe of dough.)

Apple Pie Filling

2 apples, shredded (about 2 cups packed)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Combine all filling ingredients in a small bowl-mix well. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll dough out to the same thickness as sugar cookies, or slightly thicker. Place a very small spoonful of apple filling in the center of the circle. (If the hamantaschen are overfilled, they run the risk of popping open during baking.) Towards the end of the batch of hamantaschen, I found that the apples got very liquidy, so squeeze out any excess liquid before placing it on the circle. Smear some egg white around the edge. Press the top two edges tgether and pinch lightly, like this:

Arrange on a lined cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven at 400° for 15 minutes. For the glaze: Pour 1 1/2 cup powder sugar into a ziploc bag. Add 2 tablespoons milk or creamer and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Zip close and mix. The glaze will probably be thick- if it is, microwave on high for 15 seconds, and mix again. (You realize when I say mix, I mean squish, right?) Snip off a corner and drizzle over cooled hamantaschen.

And for those of you who held out this long, here is a traditional hamantasch dough:

Traditional Hamantasch Dough

This recipe makes a ridiculous amount of hamantaschen, so don't be shy to half the recipe.

6 eggs

1 1/2 cup oil

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract, optional

6 cups flour

4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon salt

Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in extracts. Reduce mixer speed to low; stir in flour, baking powder and salt. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour. Roll out dough and cut out circles with a glass. Fill with traditional hamantasch fillings (jelly, prune lekvar, poppy seed filling, chocolate spread etc.) Brush perimeter of circle with egg whites, and pinch ends close. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

For a clear explanation on how to form hamantaschen, check out Miriam's, from Overtimecook.com at CookKosher. And for those of you who are wondering exactly what hamantaschen are...you can find an explanation here.