Turtles Candy Inspired Hamentashen

This weekend I went home to visit and my mom and siblings. Before leaving school I received an urgent text from my mother: "please get lactaid the blue kind- I'm out!"Being a wonderful daughter, I trekked (on by that I mean the store that is on route to my house) to the grocery store to buy her lactose free milk for her dairy hating stomach. As I was handing the casher my single dollar bills (don't get any ideas there...), I noticed one of the bills had "juicy titties" written on it. I could not contain my giggles, although the dewed-eyed cashier girl only gave me a blank stare as if I was insane. I would like to not think where my dollar has been but hope it only continues to make others laugh. After my first grocery store experience, I went back the next day to buy more ingredients for my hamentashen. For those who are unfamiliar, hamentashen are a cookie traditionally eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim. It represents the triangle-shaped hat the villain, Haman, wore in the story of Purim, where many Jews were almost killed within the Persian kingdom thousands of years ago. While trying to explain this to the children I teach at Hebrew School, one child shouted out, "if he was so bad- why do we have cookies to remind us of him?" Honestly it was a great question that in the moment I could not formulate a good answer to. Reflecting back on the question sometimes we eat our feelings, even if that means eating our hate or dislike for a person, especially one who wore a triangle hat. From my currently Purim- themed kitchen to yours, enjoy your triangle cookies and nosh nosh nosh on some hamentosh...en.

Servings: about 30 hamentashen

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 stick of butter or margarine at room temperature
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of orange zest*
1 teaspoon of orange juice*

Filling ingredients:
3/4 cup of caramel squares melted or caramel sauce
Whole pecans
8 oz of bittersweet or milk chocolate
1 teaspoon of instant coffee granules

*can be also substituted with lemon zest and juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Then slowly add in the eggs and vanilla extract. Next add in the lemon juice and zest.

In a medium sized bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Add this mix to the wet ingredients in batches. The dough will form a ball- if necessary add in more flour.

Melt the caramels according to the packaging, if using caramel squares- otherwise caramel sauce can  be used.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough. Using a glass cup, cut the dough into the circles. In the center add in a small spoonful of the caramel. Pinch the sides of the circle and create a triangle. In the center place the pecan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

While the hamentashen are in the oven, n a microwave safe bowl, melt down the chocolate with instant coffee granules.  Set aside. Once the hamentashen have cooled, drizzle the chocolate on top of them.

Enjoy and Happy Purim!