Brilliant Lemon Sunshine Hamantaschen

If the Midnight Mint Hamantaschen are as darkly intense as you can go, these lemony cookies are the equivalent of brilliant sunshine. I would call them Light and Joy Lemon, but that sounds like a dish detergent.

Mighnight Mint Hamantaschen–Darth Vader of the Pastry Velt

Brilliant Lemon Sunshine Hamantaschen
Dough adapted from Sara Finkel’s Classic Kosher Cooking; lemon curd filling liberally adapted from Martha Stewart.

Dough:
1 cup shortening (1 stick, 7 ounces) (or 8 ounces Earth’s Best margarine or butter) (or 6 ounces oil)
1 cup sugar (7.25 ounces)
2 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest 1 lemon, optional
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
orange or lemon rind (optional)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (15.75 ounces)
1/4 tsp. salt (The original recipe does not call for it. if you use Earth’s Best or another salted margarine, adding salt is certainly unnecessary.)

Lemon Curd Filling (see below for lemon curd recipe)

Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and  salt.

In another bowl, cream the shortening, margarine, or butter with the sugar. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs. Add the lemon juice (and zest, if using). Stir in the flour, mixing just until combined. Divide the dough into two parts and place each part on a piece of parchment paper. Flatten each piece to about 1/4″ thickness and wrap the dough up in the parchment paper. Chill the dough until firm (if you use shortening, it will never get all that firm).

Roll out each piece of dough to 1/8″ thickness and cut out 2″ to 3″ circles ( 2 1/2″ is a nice size). Use a spatula to transfer the circles to a parchment lined sheet pan (chill the dough if the circles are too soft to transfer). Spoon a 1/2 tsp. of filling into each circle and pinch together the sides to make a triangle shape. Freeze the shaped hamantaschen.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the hamantaschen on the parchment lined baking sheet so that each is about an inch apart from the others. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges and darker golden on bottom.

Makes about 3 dozen

Lemon Curd
Makes 1 1/2 cups. Adapted from Martha Stewart. The amount of egg whites is flexible: you can use all yolks, or use two whole eggs and four yolks, or you can use four whole eggs and two yolks.

4 yolks (or you can use 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks if you don’t want too many leftover whites)
2 eggs (or can use just 2 yolks if you need the whites for something else)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
lemon zest from 2 lemons (optional–obviously, you have to zest the lemons before juicing them)
4 Tbl. coconut oil (you could use butter or margarine, but I like coconut oil here)

Combine and cook over low heat in a saucepan until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly  (or cook in a bowl set over a pot of hot water, stirring regularly, for about 15-20 minutes). Cool thoroughly before using.

Note: I find that it is best to whisk together the sugar and lemon together first, and then whisk in the eggs.

Other Hamantaschen:

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate
Midnight Mint
Basic
Darth Vader Hamantaschen
Angelina Ballerina Hamantaschen
Hamantaschen Apple Galette
Fruit Tart Hamantaschen
Hamantaschen Puff Pastry Shells
Hamantaschen French Toast Casserole

Tags: hamantaschen, hamantashen, lemon cookies, Purim