Pistachio Hamantaschen with lekvar plum butter

Makes about 4 - 4 1/2 dozen 2-inch (2 bites) cookies

Dough:
1/2 cup raw pistachios
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Prune filling:
2 cups pitted prunes
1 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar

Egg wash:
1 egg, beaten with folk

1/2 cup nuts of your preference, finely chopped + 1 tablespoon brown sugar for sprinkling

For filling, combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan except for the brown sugar. Stir and bring to a boil for one minute. Reduce heat to medium low so the mixture simmers slowly and constantly.
Cover the pot. Let the mixture simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Remove the lid from the pan. Let the prunes continue to simmer for 3-5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated/absorbed. Keep a close eye on the pan to make sure the prunes don't burn. When there are about 3 tbsp of liquid left in the pan, remove from heat.

Stir the brown sugar into the prune mixture till brown sugar melts and dissolves. Mash the prune mixture with a potato masher till a smooth puree forms. Run a fork through the mixture to break up any pieces the potato masher missed. You can also use an immersion blender for a smoother puree, if you want to.

Let cool to room temperature before using. Store in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator. Refrigerating the filling to chill completely will make it easier to work with when filling hamantaschen. (Recipe from Tori Avey cooking site) Personally, I made the filling one day before dough and kept chilled for better results.

For dough, Pulse pistachios in a food processor until coarsely ground. Add flour, salt, and sugar and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse just until a coarse meal forms. With motor running, gradually stream in 1/2 cup ice water and process until dough comes together. Transfer dough to a work surface; form into a ball, divide into 3 equal parts, then flatten them into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes. (I chilled in refrigerator for 1 hour) (Recipe from Epicurious.com)

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Remove one disk from the refrigerator. On lightly floured pastry mat roll out dough into rectangle 1/4  inch thickness. Use 3-in round cookie cutter or glass to cut out as many circles as possible and place 1 teaspoon of filling into the center of each dough circle. Fold like hamantaschen. Pinch the seams firmly to seal.  Gather the dough scrapes, re-roll, cut out additional circles. Repeat the process with remaining dough and filling.

Brush the hamantaschen with the egg wash and sprinkle  with nut mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until golden and browned for 12 minutes on lower shelf and 12 minutes on uppper shelf. Remove from the oven and cool for 5-7 minutes on a baking sheet and then transfer on a nice plate. Store in airtight container up to 3 days.