Easy Hamantaschen Recipe (6 Flavors!)

This super easy hamantaschen recipe is the absolute best for SO many reasons! Not only can you whip up the dough in just a few minutes, but you can also turn it into more than 6 different flavors with just one go.

(This post may look like a doozy, but rest assured, it’s jam-packed with tons of information on how to make the easiest, most perfect cookie!)

Jump to:

• 📋 What is Hamantaschen?
• Why You'll Love This Easy Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredients
• ⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
• 📓 How to Make Hamantaschen
• 📓 How to Make Chocolate Hamantaschen
• ❄️ How to Store Hamantaschen
• 🔍 Recipe FAQs
• 💭 One More Tip
• 🍴 More Authentic Jewish Recipes
• Easy Hamantaschen (6 Different Flavors!)
• Reviews

📋 What is Hamantaschen?

Hamantaschen is a traditional Jewish pastry that is often made for the Jewish holiday of Purim. These cookies are made with a soft and buttery dough and filled with sweet fruit fillings or chocolate. They're my favorite triangular-shaped cookies to make and so fun to share with friends and family in celebration of Purim. 

If you are looking for more recipes to make for your Purim feast, try these: Healthy Chicken Marsala, Baked Teriyaki Salmon, Steak and Rice Bowls, or this Apple Cranberry Salad! 

Why You'll Love This Easy Recipe

• It's the real deal! Like all of my Jewish recipes, this easy hamantaschen recipe is an authentic recipe that's been enjoyed by my family for years and taste just like the hamantaschen from the Jewish bakery! 
• It's made with the best, buttery dough. The best soft, buttery hamantaschen cookies are made with a butter-rich dough. Not only do these hamantaschen cookies use a soft, sugar cookie dough as the base. No crumbly, bland cookies here. 
• A variety of fillings to choose from. ​In addition to teaching you how to make the best hamantaschen dough, I've added 6 flavors for you to try: lemon raspberry, orange marmalade, vanilla blueberry, apple cinnamon, confetti nutella, and chocolate peanut butter cup! 
• Fool-proof way to fold the dough. In this post, I break down the best way to fold the dough, ensuring your triangular cookies remain intact and the filling doesn't leak out in the oven. 

🛒 Ingredients

For the Base Hamantaschen Dough

1. Unsalted butter - ​For the best consistency across brands, I highly recommend making the cookie dough with unsalted butter. Salted butter may work, but if using reduce the added kosher salt to ¼ teaspoon. 
2. Sugar - ​To keep the dough light in color, it's important to use granulated white sugar. 
3. Egg - ​Adds necessary moisture and fat that helps to add structure to the dough and prevents it from ripping. 
4. Flour - I have only tested this recipe using all-purpose flour and cannot recommend a gluten-free flour that I know will work. For best results, use all-purpose flour. 
5. Baking powder - Helps keep the dough light and fluffy without over browning or overspreading. 

For the Chocolate Dough

The chocolate hamantaschen dough is very similar to the base hamantaschen dough, but includes added unsweetened cocoa powder to give the dough a rich chocolate flavor. 

For the Flavors and Fillings

For the Flavors and Fillings

Here's what you'll need for your filling of choice: 

• Lemon Raspberry: You'll need the zest from 1 lemon, plus your favorite raspberry jam or preserves. 
• Orange Marmalade: You'll need the zest from 1 orange, plus your favorite orange marmalade or apricot preserves.
• Vanilla Blueberry: Use vanilla bean paste or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean, plus your favorite blueberry jam or preserves. 
• Apple Cinnamon: You'll need 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, plus your favorite apple preserves. 
• Confetti Nutella: Use ½ cup rainbow jimmies sprinkles (not nonpareils!) and a chocolate Nutella of choice. If you use nonpareils, the dye on them will come off in your dough. When the different colors mix together, you end up with brown or gray dyed ugly cookies instead of colorful fun ones.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup: In addition to the chocolate cookie dough base, you'll need 16 mini chocolate peanut butter cups for the filling. 

⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations

• Non-dairy or pareve hamantaschen: Replace the unsalted butter with unsalted vegan buttery sticks or an oil-based butter substitute. 
• Chocolate peanut butter cup substitutions: Use nearly any chocolate candy of your choice. If you use a small chocolate bar, cut it down to about the same size as the mini peanut butter cups. 
• Jam substitutions: For best results, please use jam or preserves instead of jellies. Jams are generally thicker and made with less water content. If you replace the fruit preserves with jelly, the excess moisture will cause the cookies to collapse, either causing the filling to leak out or unfold.

📓 How to Make Hamantaschen

1. Cream the butter and sugar. ​In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the unsalted butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. 

2. Add the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and any zests, spices, or vanilla bean seeds, depending on the flavor you're making. ​Beat again until well combined. 

3. Stir in the dry ingredients and sprinkles, if using. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles, if making the confetti nutella flavor. Using a baking spatula, gently mix the dry ingredients into the rest of the batter until a thick cookie dough forms. 

4. Roll the dough until ⅛" thick. ​On a lightly floured surface, roll out the hamantaschen dough until it is about ⅛" - ¼" thick. 
5. Cut the dough into circles. Using a 3-4" round cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Remove any excess dough and set it aside. 

6. Add fillings of choice. Scoop about 1 teaspoon of fruit filling or chocolate spread in the center of the dough.

7. Fold the hamantaschen. ​Fold each side into a triangle around the filling. Place the folded hamantaschen onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leave room between each pastry to expand slightly in the oven. 

8. Bake. Bake the cookies for 6 to 8 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool on a cooling rack, then enjoy! 

📓 How to Make Chocolate Hamantaschen

1. Cream the butter and sugar. ​In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the unsalted butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. 
2. Add the egg and vanilla extract. ​Beat again until well combined. 
3. Stir in the dry ingredients. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Using a baking spatula, gently mix the dry ingredients into the rest of the batter until a thick cookie dough forms. 

4. Roll dough until ⅛" thick. Using a rolling pin, roll out the hamantaschen dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about ⅛" - ¼" thick. 
5. Cut the dough into circles. Using a 3-4" round cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Remove any excess dough and set it aside. 
6. Add piece of candy. To the center of each circle, add a mini chocolate peanut butter cup.  
7. Fold the hamantaschen. Fold each side into a triangle around the peanut butter cup. Place the folded hamantaschen onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leave room between each pastry to expand slightly in the oven. 
8. Bake. Bake the cookies for 6 to 8 minutes, or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool on a cooling rack until the filling sets, then enjoy! 

❄️ How to Store Hamantaschen

To store: Leftover hamantaschen cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

To freeze: Hamantaschen can be frozen in an airtight zip top bag for up to 1 month. Defrost frozen cookies at room temperature until soft and chewy again!

🔍 Recipe FAQs

What does the word Hamantaschen mean?

The name is derived from two German words: “mohn” which means poppy seed and “taschen” which means pockets. Traditional hamantaschen include poppy seeds, but more modern variations can include almost anything from fruits and preserves, to chocolate, nut butters, or savory adaptations, like these caramelized onion hamantaschen. And not to mention, hamantaschen has the antagonist Haman’s name from the story of Purim right in it, further emphasizing the direct symbolism they represent.

What is the significance of the Hamantaschen Cookies?

In the story of Purim, Haman, the high official to the Persian king Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the empire. But long story short, his plans were foiled by two protagonists to the story, Esther and Mordecai. To celebrate Haman’s defeat and the prosperity of the Jewish people, the holiday is celebrated by creating hamantaschen, which are made triangular to symbolize Haman’s favorite 3 cornered hat. 

To eat hamantaschen on Purim is symbolic of the Jew’s defiance of bowing down to him and preventing him from carrying out his evil plan. In addition to his hat, there are many other hypotheses of the symbolic representation of the triangular cookie, for more information check out this detailed story of Purim. 

How else is Purim celebrated? 

The Jewish people also celebrate Purim by drinking, sharing and feasting on food with others, donating to the poor, publicly reciting the story of Purim, and masquerading or dressing up as characters from the story of salvation. (Though now, it’s become more mainstream with costumes often resembling those of American Halloween without the scary elements.)

How do you fold hamantaschen without it tearing? 

The easiest way to fold the dough is to roll it out thin. Then, cut it into circles and place a small dollop of filling in the center. Fold one side of the circle over the filling, then fold the opposite side on top of that. This will create a peak at the top of the cookie. Then to finish it off, fold up the bottom side over the other two sides, creating a triangle. To ensure that the folds won’t unravel, lightly tap them down to stick the dough together.

💭 One More Tip

If your dough seems dry and crumbly, try kneading it with your hands for a little bit. This will warm and soften the butter, allowing the flour to mix in a bit more. Once the dough is a bit softer and less dry, it should be ready for rolling and folding. The dough may still crack a tiny bit. If so, gently fix the cracks by tapping and smoothing the dough with your fingers once the hamantaschen are shaped.

🍴 More Authentic Jewish Recipes

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