By Shannon Sarna, The Nosher
A fun part of baking hamantashen is getting creative with the fillings. I love this recipe because it has a little fun with the dough itself, imitating one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes with both brown and white sugar and mini chocolate chips.

You could fill these cookies with anything you like, but my favorite fillings are dulce de leche (I buy the jarred kind from Trader Joe’s), cookie butter or chocolate hazelnut spread.

As with any hamantashen baking, make sure to chill the dough for at least one hour before rolling it out, and pinch the corners very well to ensure the cookies keep their shape.

For the dough:
½ cup butter (or margarine), at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk (or almond milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups + 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Filling suggestions:
Chocolate hazelnut spread
Dulce de leche
Cookie butter

Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add egg, milk, and vanilla until mixed thoroughly.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry mixture to wet mixture until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Chill dough for at least one hour or up to 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Dust your work surface with flour to keep the dough from sticking. I like to cut dough in half and roll out in batches. Roll the dough to about a quarter to a half-inch thick.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut out dough and place on cookie sheet. To keep the dough from sticking to your cookie cutter, dip the cutter in flour before each cut. (In place of a cookie cutter, you can also use a regular drinking glass or Mason jar top).

Fill cookies with a scant half teaspoon of chocolate hazelnut spread, dulce de leche, cookie butter or a few chocolate chips and mini marshmallow in each round. Pinch circle into triangle.

Repeat with remaining dough, putting scraps back into dough three to four times until all dough has been used.

Place cookies on baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper and place entire baking sheet into the freezer for five minutes before baking (or place in fridge for 10 to 15 minutes). This will ensure the cookies don’t fall apart while baking.

Bake for eight minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

To read the complete March 2020 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.