These tiny fruit-filled cookies, which my great-grandmother imported from Poland, are customarily presented to all of one’s friends as gifts for the Jewish holiday of Purim. They are the best, therefore we usually make extra so we have some for ourselves! (The filling is optional; for a quick fix, any flavor of jam will do; nevertheless, this is the traditional filling.)
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 36 |
| Yield: | 3 dozen |
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted prunes, cooked, drained and mashed
- 2 cups dried apricots, cooked drained and mashed
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup safflower oil
- 1 lemon, zested
- 1 orange, zested
- 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ⅓ cup white sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Place prunes and apricots into a large pot filled with water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook the fruit uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is tender, about 15 minutes. Drain fruit in a colander and mash together in a bowl using a fork. Set aside.
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Whisk eggs, 1 cup sugar, oil, lemon zest, and orange zest together in a bowl and set aside. Sift flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Stir in the egg mixture, kneading with hands until the dough comes together. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut circles out using a cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass.
- Mix prune and apricot mixture, lemon juice, walnuts, and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl. Place a tablespoon of the filling in the center of the cookie. Pinch the edges firmly together to create a triangle, leaving the center open to expose the filling. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 163 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 29 g |
| Cholesterol | 16 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 34 mg |
| Sugars | 15 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’ve been experimenting with different hamantaschen recipes. They all taste pretty much the same but the difference is in how easy the dough rolls out. This worked well for me and will be my go-to recipe. I added a little water and also some vanilla. I used my stand mixer to blend the dough. I also used prune lekvar that I had previously made, but I’m sure this recipe would have been delicious. I refrigerated the dough overnight because I didn’t have time to finish putting the hamantaschen together.
These were GREAT! The best part was the lemon and orange zest!. I also agree to not use more than 1tsp of filling. DELICIOUS!
Great! Having said that I changed it like completely mostly out of necessity of what I had. I used canola oil, only a half rind of lemon, and a splash of orange juice instead of orange rind. I wouldn’t necessarily vouch for any of these except to say it still worked so don’t worry if you need to sub. I also subbed jam instead of the filling. Some turned out better than others. I learned from my tribe the following trips that I will use to have better consistent results: • Use egg wash before you put in filling and over it after it’s assembled on rims. • Use water to moisten your fingers to pinch the corners (like so many of you said so I luckily had done that) • If soft, you can put in your fridge for a bit to set (like you have probably have for other cookies) • If you have to multitask and leave the dough, put it in a air-tight bag so it doesn’t dry out. • Jam is good but the thicker the better. Thinner will not work as well. • Folding corners over each other instead of together is pretty and secure. (Note I didn’t do this so pic doesn’t reflect it.)
Great recipe but made a few changes. Didn’t have an orange or walnuts so left them out. Lemon juice & rind worked well with a filling of Allrecipes “sauteed apples” (finely chopped with extra spices.) Cooking secret: Temperature of your kitchen plus the humidity of the day makes a difference when you’re baking.Expect various results even when using the exact same recipe. When using baking powder and/or baking soda. I always leave the mixture out for 1/2 hour before refrigerating or cooking. After chilling the 1st pan of filled cookies overnight & then forming and cooking them, I had to refrigerate the rest of the dough so it would harden up again.
I struggled mightily with this dough, and I acknowledge that my poor baking skills may have had everything to do with it. I also had a TON of filling leftover, I think perhaps you could do half as much? Overall these still turned out pretty decent despite my user troubles, so it seems this is a pretty good recipe.
The traditional Hamantaschen I have had are a softer. I cut down on the baking powder as suggested however the dough did spread significantly. Be sure to brush corners with water & pinch tightly. Although it is a good recipe, I wonder if a Rx with butter would yield a softer mouth feel.
rolled out to 1/4″ and it was a little bready. Lots of leftover filling. Used double the amount of walnuts. Dough was alittle dry, had to add water. Baked for 30 min
These turned out great. I used a gluten free flour, adding only xanthan gum, and refrigerated the dough for two hours before working with it. The only change I would make next time is there is too way too much filling for dough if you roll to a 1/4 inch…I would try 1/8 inch next time.
This is a fantastic recipe which yielded my best tasting and looking Hamentaschen, ever. I did not have a lemon, so I used the zest of two oranges; plus I substituted fig jam, Nutella and chocolate chips as fillings. I exactly followed the directions and these turned out beautifully, with no leaks or overbakes. Happy Purim and thank you for the recipe.
I have made AND recommended this recipe more times than I can count, both for sugar cookies and for hamantaschen (dough only, I use a different filling). A few tips: – MUST MUST MUST use a stand mixer, do not attempt to mix this by hand or you’ll encounter all the problems with the dough seeming to have wrong proportions of flour – use only 1 tsp of baking powder. Baking powder causes cookies to puff and spread, if you’re cutting specific shapes, the less puff the better. Can even reduce further if needed. – Can be made as a chocolate dough, substituting the 4 cups of flour with 3 cups regular flour + 2/3 c cocoa powder – Can leave out the fruit zests (although they’re delicious) and use instead 1-2 tsp vanilla + 1/2 tsp either almond or lemon extract.
I made it pretty much as the recipe called for. Didn’t have the lemon and orange, so I just added a little vanilla. I used canned fillings and a homemade poppy seed filling. Dough worked out just great with hand kneading.
I had a very hard time with the dough, and although I loved the two zest idea- and added some vanilla-taste and texture nothing special. I would have given it 2 stars but I used splenda instead of sugar because of diabetics in family so some of the problem may have been that. But all in all- not a do over.
Good recipe! What a great filling! The one thing I would say is refrigerating the dough is super helpful! The dough was too soft but I refrigerated the dough for 2 hours and the dough was much easier to use and shape after that!
These were fabulous. Used a little less sugar in the filling and used walnut oil in the dough.
Amazing recipe. Dough stays cookie-crispy after baking and storing in cookie jar. I added vanilla and a little orange juice to the dough. I also put mine in the fridge before rolling out. I used chocolate chips, Nutella and a concoction of raisins, dried cranberries and dried apricots simmered in orange juice with cinnamon and sugar and then mashed with my immersion blender for the filling.
Fantastic, tasty dough! I mixed it w the dough hook attachment in my KitchenAid mixer. So easy! Scraped it from bowl onto Roul Pat mat & needed to sprinkle w some flour (used Organic pastry flour & raw sugar). I also added a drop of Young Living ‘Citrus Fresh’ essential oil to the egg mixture. Amazing flavor & I love cooking w my oils (I sell them as well). The dough rolled out so nicely. Didn’t have time to make the filling so I used a combo of cherry & apricot Bon Maman preserves. I made the cookies thin so I baked them only 14-16 min per batch. Crunchy edges & soft inside. Wonderful!
The dough never “came together.” I added a few tablespoons more of oil until I could form it into a ball. Even so, the dough was so crumbly I couldn’t roll it out. The cooking time for the fruit was inadequate. I cooked it for 5 minutes longer than suggested and it was still almost impossible to mash the fruit, especially the apricots. I ended up pushing lumps of dough into a muffin tin with my fingers and spooning the fruit into the center. The resulting “deconstructed Hamantaschen” tasted very good, but didn’t look like much.
SO good! For some reason, the dough was too soft to roll out right after mixing it all together, so I refrigerated it for a couple of hours. I had no problem at all rolling them out after that. The cookies are so delicious! They are so much more flavorful than other recipes that I’ve tried.
This is a REALLY great recipe! The only thing I had a problem with is that my first round overflowed. The fix: only fill with ONE TEASPOON for a 2-3 inch round dough. Then, using a bowl of water, dip your finger in water, and moisten the boarder of the disc before forming the triangle. It helps the ends stick better. I also used store-bought jam, with no other issues. Yum!
These were great. But for my neighbor down the hall, I’d be interested to know if commenter GreenApril meant gluten-free flour in her gluten-free version. Otherwise that recipe is — obviously — not gluten-free. Hope she sees this!
Really good recipe. I used canola oil and white whole wheat flour–the dough was great. For the filling I made separate batches of apricot and prune, then put them in the blender with lemon juice and sugar, (no walnuts) so I had 2 different fillings, both good. I ended up with more than twice as much filling as I needed, so I guess I’ll have to make more dough and eat more hamantaschen!