Baked Hamantaschen

👨‍🍳 Method

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Rub the cold butter cubes into the flour with your fingertips, to a crumbly mixture.

   Bowl

   💡Work quickly while the butter is still cold: butter that melts in your hands makes a hard cookie instead of a crumbly one. Knead only until the dough comes together.
3. 3
   Add the sugar, egg, orange juice and vanilla and knead lightly, just until a uniform dough forms.
4. 4
   Wrap the dough in plastic wrap until it holds together and chill 1 hour.

   ⚙ Wrapping and Chilling the DoughPlastic wrapRefrigerator

   💡Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.
5. 5
   Roll out the dough on a floured surface to ½ cm thick, cut out rounds and arrange on the baking sheet, spaced apart.

   ⚙ Rolling Out DoughRolling pinCookie cutterBaking pan

   💡Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
6. 6
   Place a teaspoon of the jam in the center of each circle and fold up three sides into a triangle.
7. 7
   Bake 12–15 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Take the cookies out while they still look soft: they firm up as they cool, and long baking dries them out.

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
8. 8
   Cool completely on the pan: the cookies firm up as they cool.