This Hamantaschen recipe makes a not-so-classic Hamantaschen dough and three amazing fillings: citrus curd, Nutella, and fruit paste. Hamantaschen are traditionally made for the holiday of Purim, which usually falls in March of the year on the solar calendar. They are instantly recognizable by their triangle shape, folded dough, and sweet filling.
Hamantaschen are small triangle-shaped cookie-pastries, made from vanilla dough folded inwards to make a small nest in the center for a filling to be placed. They are a Jewish dessert made for the holiday of Purim. Classic Hamantaschen contain poppy seeds or have a fruit filling like apricot, but you can fill them with whatever you like.
In the Book of Esther, a villain named ‘Haman’ intended to kill the Jewish people, but was thwarted and the holiday of Purim thus celebrates the saving of the Jewish people. His name lends itself to the ‘haman’ in Hamantaschen. The latter part has a few interpretations, the most common stating that ‘tash’ or ‘taschen’ means pocket, to indicate the folding of the dough to make a pocket. Another interpretation is that ‘tash’ in Hebrew means ‘weaken’ or ‘weakening’, referring to the weakening of the villain Haman.
Some say the triangle shape of this cookie represents Haman’s hat, which had three corners. Some say the triangle shape represents Haman’s ears, to signify how Haman’s ears were cut off before hanging for his crimes. On a more practical note, the triangle shape does a stellar job of holding in the filling!
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🧾Ingredients in this recipe
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👩🍳How to Make This Recipe
Make-Ahead Pro Tip
The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Shape them into discs about 1 inch thick, and seal in a sealable air-tight bag. Thaw until pliable, then continue with the recipe.
Cool on a wire rack completely before serving.
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Hamantaschen
Print Recipe SaveEquipment
- 3-inch cookie cutter
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (1.5 sticks)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- curd
- Nutella
- fruit paste
Instructions
- Whisk together 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 3/4 cup of unsalted butter and sugar on high speed for 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, then beat on high speed for 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer down to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until combined. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky to roll. Add a spoon of flour if necessary.
- Divide the dough into two parts. Place each part on a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Top each with another piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day.
- Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles and set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- When soft enough to form into the triangles, add 2 teaspoons of filling to the center of each circle.
- Fold in the sides, slightly overlapping the filling, to form a triangle. Each side of the cookie should have a corner that folds under and another that folds over. (See photos in post.) Pinch the corners together neatly so that they form a point.
- Refrigerate the cookies on the pans for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 395F.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until just barely getting golden.
- Cool on a wire rack completely before serving.
Wonderful recipe! I converted into metric since I like to weigh my ingredients, added half a scraped vanilla bean into the dough, but otherwise followed everything. These are extremely tender and comforting. The dough was very easy to work with.
So glad you enjoyed them, Riki… I really appreciate you taking the time to share. Chag sameach!
This is the easiest and tastier recipient for hamantashen! We did it together with my little 4 yo boys. I didn’t have time to make the filling so I bought ready form our local shoprite poppy seed mix. The boys used Hershey kisses instead.
I’m actually going to make another batch to share with our neighbors children.
I wish I could post a picture of our hamantashen
I’m so glad you and your son liked them! Thank you for sharing… chag sameach!