Purim is a super fun holiday where all the kids, and some young-at-heart adults, dress up in costumes! Hamantashen is a traditional Purim cookie. Enjoy! Yes... these cookies do have sugar, but less than most cookies. In fact even I add a bit of powdered sugar sometime.
Nostalgic and distinct - Blog author
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Equipment and Tools
Oven
Rolling pin
Tips
Fat content - if you are trying to stay away from butter for health reasons or other use a total of 6 Tbs oil instead of 2 Tbs oil and omit the butter
Money saving tip - Use oil instead of butter. Use 6 Tbs oil instead of 2 Tbs oil and omit the butter.
Rolling the dough - Flour the rolling pin. Do not put tons of flour on the working surface because it's not nice to have clumps of flour on your cookies. If there is too much flour on the circular cut out pieces of dough then shake the pieces to remove excess flour.
Cutting out circles from the dough - After you go through punching circular shapes out of the dough preroll and repeat. And when you are tired of repeating and repeating make whatever you can out of the leftover dough like a giant cookie with sprinkles!
Raisins - We prefer golden raisins because we think they are juicier but any plump raisin will work. My favorites are from Trader Joe, also available through Amazon.
Eggs - We recommend using an extra large or large egg. To make vegan or if you are out of eggs you can make a flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp flax with 3 Tbsp water and let the mixture sit for a few minutes.
Walnuts - Use unsalted unroasted walnuts
Time Saving Tips
Use oil instead of butter. Use 6 Tbs oil instead of 2 Tbs oil and omit the butter.
Use store-bought jam instead of poppyseed filling.
Make the filling the day before and put in refrigerator overnight
Mix the dry ingredients the day before and cover
Meal Planning Tips
None
Recipe for Poppyseed Hamantashen AKA Poppyseed-filled Purim Cookies
1: Ingredients
Main Ingredients
4 Tbs sugar
1/2 stick butter (room temperature, cut into a few pieces)
2 Tbs canola oil
2 Tbs water
1 large or xl egg
1.5 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Topping
Powdered sugar (optional)
Filling
1/2 cup poppyseeds, ground
1/4 cup whole milk
1½ Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp crushed walnuts (optional)
2 Tbsp cut up dried fruit such as raisins or dried plums (optional)
2: Directions
Make filling - Put all ingredients in a small pot and simmer until all liquid is absorbed - Let cool to room temperature
Whisk sugar, oil, butter and water until relatively smooth
Add egg and beat again - small pieces of butter dispersed evenly throughout are ok
Add flour and water and mix until smooth
Wrap in plastic wrap and put in refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum
Preheat oven to 355 °F
Spread flour (not too much!) over a clean surface
Use a rolling pin to roll dough to 1/8 inch (3 mm) thickness
Use a glass with a diameter of about 3 inches (8 cm) to cut out the cookies. Dip in flour between cookies to assist in dough not sticking to glass
Transfer cut outs to pan with parchment paper
Top each circle with about 2 tsp of poppyseed filling. Filling should be at room temperature or slightly cool for this step.
Fold each end of the dough onto the center making a triangular shape (Haman's ear!)
Bake at 355°F for 18-20 minutes
Once cool sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired
3: Mix it up
No
4: Serving suggestion
Great with cocoa, see our recipe for a healthier version. Also great with tea or coffee. Enjoy.
5: Storage
After cookies cool put in covered storage container. Leave whatever you do not eat at room temperature until the following day. Store in freezer for up to a few weeks. Thaw at room temperature, microwave, or toaster oven (for dryer texture)