Classic Hamantaschen
Tender three-cornered Purim cookies with an easy pareve dough and your choice of traditional or modern filling.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Make the Dough
- Mix eggs and sugar. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
- Add the liquids. Mix in the oil, orange juice, and salt until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
- Combine. Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.
- Check the texture. The dough should be soft, smooth, easy to handle, and slightly tacky, but not wet.
- Do not over-flour. If the dough feels too soft to roll, chilling is better than adding lots of extra flour.
Chill
- Divide the dough into 2-4 flattened discs, wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. This makes the oil-based dough easier to roll and shape.
Roll and Cut
- Preheat. Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Work in portions. Use one chilled dough disc at a time and keep the rest refrigerated.
- Roll. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/8 inch / 3 mm thick.
- Cut circles. Cut 3-inch rounds with a cookie cutter or drinking glass.
- Reroll scraps gently. Gather scraps and reroll without adding excessive flour.
Fill and Shape
- Add filling. Place about 1/2-3/4 tsp thick filling in the center of each circle. For very thick fillings, use up to about 1 tsp.
- Do not overfill. Too much filling is one of the main reasons hamantaschen open in the oven.
- Bring in the left side. Fold the left edge toward the center.
- Bring in the right side. Fold the right edge inward, overlapping the first side slightly.
- Bring up the bottom. Fold the bottom edge upward to form a triangle.
- Pinch firmly. Pinch all three corners well, keeping a small triangle of filling visible in the center.
Best Beginner Folding Trick
- At each corner, overlap one flap over the next rather than merely touching three flat edges together. This interlocking fold helps the triangle stay closed during baking.
Bake
- Arrange. Place the shaped hamantaschen about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake at 350°F / 175°C for about 14-18 minutes.
- Check early. Begin checking at 14 minutes.
- Look for doneness. The bottoms and corners should be lightly golden, the dough should look set, and the center should no longer look raw.
- Avoid dark browning. Do not wait until the whole cookie is deeply golden.
Cool
- Let the hamantaschen sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. The filling will be very hot right out of the oven, so cool before eating.
Notes
Filling
Use a thick filling. Runny jam is much more likely to leak out or make the hamantaschen open during baking.
Shaping Tips
- Do not overfill.
- Use thick filling.
- Roll to about 1/8 inch.
- Pinch all three corners firmly.
- Use the overlapping-fold method rather than barely touching the edges.
- Do not coat the cut circles with excessive flour.
- If shaped cookies become warm and very soft, refrigerate the tray for 10-15 minutes before baking.
- Traditional: Prune or poppy seed.
- Easy: Raspberry or apricot jam.
- Kids: Chocolate spread.
- Different: Date filling.
- Mixed platter: Make a few of each.
- Room temperature: Store airtight for about 4-5 days.
- Freezer: Freeze completely cooled hamantaschen airtight with parchment between layers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. They freeze especially well for making ahead of Purim.
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