Vegetarian Hamantaschen

By Lsweetnell

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• Makes about 4 dozen (varies based on what size you make them)
• 1 cup of blended silken tofu (or 4 eggs)
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 rind of an orange
• Whatever fillings you want. Here are some suggestions:
• Your favorite fruit preserves
• Pumpkin Butter
• Poppy Seeds
• Nutella
• Peanut butter and chocolate chips (warning; this combination should be eaten with a large glass of milk for optimal enjoyment)

Details

Adapted from theinventivevegetarian.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Mix the tofu (or eggs), oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl until creamy. Also add in the orange rind at this point.

2. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients to form a soft dough. It will be slightly sticky, unlike a bread dough, so don’t be too concerned. It should be firm enough to maintain a shape. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (this makes the sticky dough easier to work with). Also feel free to make the dough a day or two ahead and keep it refrigerated until you’re ready to roll it out.

3. It's easiest to split the dough into quarters or smaller fractions and only work with a bit at a time while the rest stays in the refrigerator. Take one section and roll it out on a well-floured surface (or between two pieces of parchment or wax paper) until you’ve reached your desired thickness. Make sure the whole piece of dough is even.

Take a water glass (or whatever you’re using to cut out circles), dip the rim in flour, and cut out 2"-3" circles of dough with it. Try to maximize the dough by placing the circles close to each other. Take the scraps, scoop them into a ball and set aside to roll out again and repeat the circle cutting process until there is no dough left.

4. Drop 1 tsp. of filling into the middle of each circle and shape by pinching the sides together to form a triangle. If the sides are not sticking together, dip your fingertip in water, run it along one side, and pinch together again.

Try not to overfill the cookies, or else they will spill out over the sides while baking. They’ll still taste delicious, but they won’t look as pretty. Fruit preserves are especially dangerous.

5. Bake in an oven at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 11-15 minutes, depending on how thick you rolled the dough. Allow the cookies to cool to room temperature, then transfer them to a zip top bag for storage (or gobble them down by the dozen).

***Update: I highly recommend putting a slice of bread in with the cookies when you store them. The bread keeps the cookies from getting too hard/stale. I have no idea how it works, but it totally does..