Birthday hamantaschen

DIRECTIONS

• Make the filling
• Put cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar and instant vanilla pudding in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with balloon whisk and mix just until smooth. Add egg and yolk and mix again to combine. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and keep in fridge for one hour.
• Make the dough
• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a food processor. Pulse to create crumbs. Add egg and egg yolk and pulse just until the dough begins to clump together. Add 1 tablespoon of water if dough does not clump together. Turn the dough out onto a large bowl, knead shortly, gather into a ball, divide into two and flatten to 2 disks. If the dough seems too soft to roll and handle, put it in the fridge in a bowl for 15 minutes or until it feels firm enough.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a 2¾-inch cookie cutter at hand and 2 more large pieces of parchment paper.
• Put first half-portion of dough on the on a parchment paper, top with another paper and roll with a rolling pin to a rectangle (about ⅛” thin). Remove the top parchment paper, sprinkle half the sprinkles on the dough and use your hand to press them slightly into the dough. Cover with the parchment paper again, then flip the dough, so the sprinkles are now at the bottom. Remove the top parchment paper. Use the cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough. Reroll the dough as needed.
• Use a teaspoon to mound a small amount of the filling in the center of each circle. Lift and pinch the edges of each circle in 3 places spaced evenly apart, to create a triangle; the filling will be partially exposed in the center. Arrange on the baking sheet, spacing them an inch apart.
• Put baking sheets in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Bake one sheet at a time for 12-15 minutes or until the pastries are just turning light-golden on the edges.
• Transfer the pastries to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.