Hamentashen

[MBK]

It's Purim-time... and I do love an apricot hamentashen! Anyone know where a good one is in the area? I've tried the ones at K's (not terribly impressed) and at the bakery in Eastern Market (better, but still not blown away). Any ideas?

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So's Your Mom (eating_out)

[hillvalley]

I am on the prowl for chocolate chip hamentashen. My grandmother used to make them for me but when I put in my request this year she just laughed.

[bookluvingbabe]

I'm always looking for a decent cherry hamentashen.

Some Giant locations, usually in the Bethesda-Potomac-Silver Spring area, have okay ones. Enough to satisfy the craving for a few moments.

But nothing really special. There is a place in Park Slope, Brooklyn that has really nice ones but it's hard to justify a trip to NY just for a cookie.

Jennifer

[Principia]

Not that this is within the confines of the city by any means, but I believe that Wegmans carries a few kinds of hamentashen. I'll check next time I'm there and let folks know.

[tripewriter]

Ditto for "So's Your Mom," but my recommendation is based on old intel circa 1996 :-D

The Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe at Lee Hwy and N. Culpeper St in Arlington is also a good source.

[Heather]

I stopped by Stella's Bakery in Rockville today. They have apricot, prune, and poppy seed mini Hamantashen that are not bad. Best was the prune.

[jrichstar]

The Kosher Mart on Rollins Avenue in Rockville really has excellent Hamantasch. Great balance of pastry and fruit and very fresh when you time it right. We've gone there the last few years and they've always had apricot! Katz's in Rockville is pretty good but I find theirs to have too thick a cookie with not enough fruit.

[Craig Erion]

Ok, I grew up in NYC and I went to summer camp in Maine but I never heard of "hamantaschen" Please enlighten me.

Craig

sweet I'ma clam

[Mark Slater]

Ok, I grew up in NYC and I went to summer camp in Maine but I never heard of "hamantaschen"  Please enlighten me.

Craig

sweet I'ma clam

Craig,

Haman is the villain of the Magilla - the story of Queen Esther told on the Jewish holiday called Purim. "Hamantaschen" is a pastry shaped like Haman's hat- a buttery pastry triangle filled with fruit (prune is the best). All the bakeries in New York have them in March/April.

[Bob Wells]

(prune is the best).

Mark: Surely you wrote that merely to start a discussion, right?

[DanielK]

I don't know what varieties they stock, but Shalom's in Wheaton is where we get our supply.

[amyblues]

I actually saw some apricot hamentaschen on a tray at Vace in Cleveland Park last night. Didn't try them, but I may have to go back tonight.

[legant]

Does anyone make their own? Or, willing to share Bubbe's recipe?

I've Googled; however, regardless of the recipe, most complain about the dough being difficult to work with or falling apart. Is the pastry a sweeten pie dough? One more: I'm familiar with the poppy seed filling. Any other home-made favorites?

[Pat]

Does anyone make their own? Or, willing to share Bubbe's recipe?

I've Googled; however, regardless of the recipe, most complain about the dough being difficult to work with or falling apart. Is the pastry a sweeten pie dough? One more: I'm familiar with the poppy seed filling. Any other home-made favorites?

I used to make it, when I was much younger. I found a recipe in the newspaper and decided to try it. I'll look and see if I can find the recipe.

ETA: I found the recipe. It calls for canned filling. I think this was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer in the mid-70s. It looks like it must have been from one of those "local cook's best recipe for" articles in the food section. Given that it's 30-35 years old, I'm typing it verbatim from the clipping I have, except for correcting typos .

Sandy Grossman's Hamantaschen

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

3 cups flour

filling

Make a well in the flour and baking powder, which has been sifted together. Put in eggs, oil, juice, and sugar. Mix well to form cookie dough.

Roll out and cut into 3-inch circles. Fill with 1 teaspoon of desired filling. (You can use canned poppy seed, prune, cherry, blueberry, strawberry fillings, or anything you like. Sandy said that she has used apricot preserves and nuts and it worked great.) Bring up one side of the circle, and then the two others and pinch together to form a triangle. (The filling shows through.)

Bake until brown, about 20 minutes, at 350 degrees.

[DanielK]

Does anyone make their own? Or, willing to share Bubbe's recipe?

I've Googled; however, regardless of the recipe, most complain about the dough being difficult to work with or falling apart. Is the pastry a sweeten pie dough? One more: I'm familiar with the poppy seed filling. Any other home-made favorites?

Poppy is the most traditional, as are apricot, prune, and cherry. I've seen chocolate before, which while probably tasty, is an affront against nature.

Pat's recipe is pretty darn close to my grandmother's recipe, and a quick search of a few Jewish websites doesn't show much variation on the dough (OJ instead of lemon juice in a few). Play with the ratios a bit to get results you're happy with.

You won't see them in quantities in stores for another month or so - Purim is the second week in March this year.