Classic Hamantaschen

The telephone rang shrilly. I picked it up and held the phone away from my ear. It was my mother and she wasn’t happy. Somehow, the mishloach manot (the food gift that we exchange on Purim) that my mother had lovingly presented to my family had accidentally been regifted to my Auntie Malka when we found ourselves short one package while out making our deliveries. My Auntie Malka visited my parents later that day, and never one to come empty-handed, she brought a mishloach manot. Yes, it was the same mishloach manot that my mother had made for us. Busted!

Classic Hamantaschen

My Mom made the most delicious hamantaschen. Each triangular, sweet cookie-dough pastry, filled with prune jam, was soft and tender. There were no misshapen unfortunates that burst open while baking, spilling their sticky contents all over the oven. They were perfect. I wish I could say that I faithfully make Mom’s recipe every year but in fact there is no recipe to speak of, unless you happen to be the lucky owner of a vintage 1963 yahrzeit glass that was Mom’s favorite measuring utensil and have the unique ability to improvise as she did when baking (“use as much flour as you need, that’s how much”).

After trying many different recipes for these delicacies, I have settled on this easy one for classic hamantaschen, published in Mishpacha magazine. The dough uses readily available ingredients and is a breeze to work with. Refrigerating the filled pastries before baking them ensures that they stay closed and maintain their characteristic tricornered shape. There is no limit on the range of fillings that you can use and I’ve experimented with flavors as diverse as Lotus Biscoff cookie butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, fig jam, and lemon curd. But I always include a few prune hamantaschen. They’re almost as good as my Mom’s.

Assemble your ingredients. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using the flat beater on your stand mixer, beat the eggs, oil, sugar baking powder, salt and vanilla. Slowly add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. 

Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it’s 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate the dough for at least a half hour.

Cut out circles from the rolled out dough using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Brush the edge of the circles with egg wash. Place one tablespoon of the filling of your choice on each circle and press up the sides to form triangles, pinching the ends closed. Check out this excellent illustration of this process. The scraps of dough can be pushed together and rerolled between sheets of parchment paper. Continue cutting and filling the dough, refrigerating it as necessary. Place the filled hamantaschen in the refrigerator to rest for a half hour. This helps them keep their shape when they bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. You can brush the outside of the hamantaschen with the egg wash and sprinkle with granulated or turbinado sugar. Bake the hamantaschen at 350 F. for 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Allow them to cool, and enjoy.

Print Recipe

Classic Hamantaschen

Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Desserts

By Mishapcha Magazine – Serves: 20

Prep Time: 30 minutes + chilling time – Cooking Time: 15 minutes per cookie sheet – Total Time: 60 minutes

Soft and tender cookie-dough hamantaschen filled with the topping of your choice, ranging from Lotus Biscoff cookie butter to lemon curd.

Ingredients

• Dough
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups flour (until a soft dough forms)
• For assembling and decorating hamantaschen
• Fillings of your choice such as prune lekvar, chocolate hazelnut spread, lemon curd, fig jam and Lotus Biscoff cookie butter
• 1 large egg, beaten with a fork + 1 tablespoon water = egg wash
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar or turbinado sugar

Instructions

1

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2

Using the flat beater on your stand mixer, beat the eggs, oil, sugar baking powder, salt and vanilla. Slowly add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, until it's 1/4 inch thick. Refrigerate the dough for at least a half hour.

3

Cut out circles from the rolled out dough using a 3-inch round cookie cutter. Brush the edge of the circles with egg wash. Place one tablespoon of the filling of your choice on each circle and press up the sides to form triangles, pinching the ends closed.

4

The scraps of dough can be pushed together and rerolled between sheets of parchment paper. Continue cutting and filling the dough, refrigerating it if it becomes too soft to fold easily. Place the filled hamantaschen in the refrigerator to rest for a half hour. This helps them keep their shape when they bake.

5

Preheat the oven to 350 F. You can brush the outside of the hamantaschen with the egg wash and sprinkle with granulated or turbinado sugar.

6

Bake the hamantaschen at 350 F. for 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven. Allow them to cool, and enjoy.

Notes

This dough is very easy to work with. If the dough is too stiff to fold when you remove it from the refrigerator, allow it to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Likewise, if the dough is too soft to fold, place it back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. This should be a "no tears" recipe. Store the baked hamantaschen in an airtight resealable container. The hamantaschen freeze very well.