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With Purim on the horizon, flour, butter, eggs and jams are found on kitchen counters in Jewish homes — including ours. The title “Best Hamantaschen Recipe Ever” certainly captured our attention. That’s what Shannon Sarna of The Nosher calls the hamantaschen recipe below.
Perfect is a high bar to set and this recipe hits pretty close. Just make sure to have extra flour on hand and follow Sarna’s advice for chilling the dough and freezing the shaped and filled hamantaschen before popping them in the oven. The dough is on the sweet side, so keep that in my when choosing your filling. We went with cherry preserves that we had on hand. And make sure not to roll the dough too thin, as we did with our first batch. You’ll wind up with purple-tinged hamantaschen that taste good, but don’t quite look the part.
And don’t miss voting in our poll, asking that all important question: “What’s your favorite hamantaschen filling?” Scroll to the bottom to cast your vote!
Classic Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp. milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. grated lemon zest, optional
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
Instructions
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Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth.
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Add egg, milk, vanilla and lemon zest until mixed thoroughly.
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Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
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Add dry mixture to wet mixture until incorporated. If the dough is too soft, increase flour amount a few tablespoons at a time until firmer.
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Form dough into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Chill dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
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Dust surface with flour to keep from sticking. Roll the dough to about ¼-inch thick.
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Using a round 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out and place onto cookie sheet. To keep the dough from sticking to your cutter, dip in flour before each cut.
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Fill each round with ½ tsp of your favorite filling, and using your favorite method, pinch corners together tightly.
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Pop into the fridge for 10 minutes, or freezer for 5 minutes, to ensure hamantaschen hold their shape.
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Bake at 400°F for 7-9 minutes.
Recipe Notes
This is an incredibly soft dough. Be prepared to used up to ½ cup of extra flour. If baking multiple batches, make sure to place remaining dough back into the fridge between batches.