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. Each idea incorporates a unique flavor pairing with some more traditional fillings as well. And I’ve also included my secret to the most soft and buttery, flavorful dough you’ll never find in your beloved family hamantaschen recipe!
(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 delicious hamantaschen 6 different ways!)
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📋 About the Recipe
The best kept secret for soft, flavorful hamantaschen cookies is to incorporate flavor into the dough itself. Not only do I use a sugar cookie recipe for the base, but I also add in an additional flavor element to each so that you don’t wind up with crumbly, bland cookies!
So many traditional recipes lean heavily on the filling alone for the flavor, leaving the dough dry and flavorless. But in order to get those mouthwatering bites of deliciousness, you NEED to throw out your traditional recipe and follow these guidelines!
Below, I have developed 6 fun and flavorful easy hamantaschen doughs, each with their unique filling pair. Some include out of the box ideas, while others remain more traditional. However, in each recipe, I have paired a flavored dough with a sweet and flavorful filling, allowing for a huge explosion of flavor right in every bite.
With just one easy hamantaschen dough, you can make SO many different varieties. My 6 suggestions are really just a starting point and the possibilities are truly endless! Whether this is your first time, or you’ve been making them for years, this post will walk you through how to make hamantaschen in as few quick and easy steps as possible.
In this post, I also break down the best way to fold the dough, so your hamantaschen remain intact and the filling doesn’t leak out in the oven. There is nothing more disappointing than spending time to fill and fold the dough, just to find them completely unfolded and the filling poured out and burnt all over your cookie sheet once they’re done baking.
I also include step by step instructions on how to make hamantaschen with each variation. Often, to change the flavors, it requires just a few simple changes in the base recipe. This will allow you to make as many different varieties as you want, either splitting the base dough in half (or thirds!) and adding in the individual flavors to each or by making multiple full batches filled with different flavors from just one easy recipe!
If you’re ready to learn how to make hamantaschen, then let’s begin! The 6 different kinds demonstrated in this recipe include:
- Lemon Raspberry Hamantaschen - A lemon zest infused dough filled with raspberry jam.
- Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen - An orange zest infused dough filled with orange marmalade.
- Vanilla Blueberry Hamantaschen - A vanilla dough filled with blueberry jam (or any jam of choice!)
- Apple Cinnamon Hamantaschen - A cinnamon dough filled with apple preserves.
- Confetti Nutella Hamantaschen - A plain dough mixed with rainbow sprinkles and filled with nutella.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Hamantaschen - A chocolate dough filled with mini peanut butter cups.
Looking for healthy dinner ideas for your Purim feast? Try these!
- Healthy Chicken Marsala
- Baked Teriyaki Salmon
- Balsamic Glazed Steak and Veggie Bowls
- Apple Cranberry Salad
🛒 Ingredients
For the Base Dough
For the Chocolate Dough
For the Flavors and Fillings
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Too much moisture causes the cookies to collapse, either enabling them to leak their filling or unfold out of their inherent triangle shape. To ensure that the cookies hold their shape and the filling won’t leak out, choose jams or preserves, instead of jellies. Jams are generally thicker with less water content.
- For the chocolate peanut butter cup hamantaschen, you can substitute the mini chocolate peanut butter cups for nearly any chocolate candy of your choice! If you use a small chocolate candy bar, cut it down to about the same size as the mini peanut butter cups.
- For the confetti nutella hamantaschen, make sure to use the jimmies style sprinkles and not nonpareils. 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.
- If you need non dairy or pareve hamantaschen, replace the unsalted butter with a vegan or oil-based butter substitute.
📓 Instructions
For Lemon Raspberry Hamantaschen
Include zest from 1 lemon in the base dough. Use raspberry jam or preserves for filling.
For Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen
Include zest from 1 orange in the base dough. Use orange marmalade or apricot preserves for filling.
For Vanilla Blueberry Hamantaschen
Include seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or ¼ tsp of vanilla bean paste) in the base dough. Use blueberry jam or preserves for filling.
For Apple Cinnamon Hamantaschen
Include 1 tsp cinnamon in the base dough. Use apple preserves for filling.
For Confetti Nutella Hamantaschen
Include ½ cup of rainbow jimmies sprinkles in the base dough. Use nutella for filling.
For Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Hamantaschen
Make the chocolate hamantaschen dough. Use mini chocolate peanut butter cups for filling. (Candy bars cut small work too.)
To Make the Base Dough (Lemon, Orange, or Vanilla)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the unsalted butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until combined, pale, and fluffy.
Add in the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and any zests or vanilla bean seeds, depending on the flavor you’re making. Mix to combine.
Gently stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt on top of the batter already in the bowl. Then mix it into the rest of the batter until it all combines into a thick cookie dough.
To Make the Base Dough (Cinnamon or Confetti)
Follow the above instructions without any zest or vanilla beans. Add in either cinnamon or sprinkles, depending on the flavor you’re making, when you mix in the flour.
To Make the Chocolate Dough
Follow the above instructions without any almond extract, baking powder, zest, or vanilla beans. Add an extra ½ tsp vanilla extract when instructed. Also, add in only 2 cups of flour with 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and mix with the salt before combining with the rest of the batter.
Chocolate hamantaschen may take a minute or two longer in the oven.
To Assemble
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about an eighth of an inch thick (or a quarter centimeter).
Cut the dough into circles anywhere from 3 to 4 inches in diameter (7 ½ to 10 centimeters).
Remove any excess dough. Set it aside.
Scoop about 1 tsp of jam, preserves, or nutella (or place a piece of candy) in the center of the cut out circles.
Fold each side into a triangle around the filling. Place the folded hamantaschen on a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving them some room to expand in the oven.
Continue the process until you’ve used up all your dough.
Bake hamantaschen in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly golden brown. The filling will thicken as they cool.
🔍 FAQs
Hamantaschen are a fruit-filled cookie or pastry traditionally eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim. They are most known for their unique shape, as they are filled and then formed into a triangle prior to baking.
The name is derived from two German words: “mohn” which means poppy seed and “taschen” which means pockets. Traditional hamantaschen include a poppyseed filling, 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.
In the story of Purim, Haman, the high official to the Persian king, 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.
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.)
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.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Easy Hamantaschen (6 Different Ways!)
Equipment
- cookie sheet
- rolling pin (or wine bottle)
- circular cookie cutter (or rim of a glass cup)
Ingredients
For the Base Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
For the Chocolate Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp salt
For Lemon Raspberry Hamantaschen
- zest from 1 lemon
- raspberry jam or preserves
For Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen
- zest from 1 orange
- orange marmalade or apricot preserves
For Vanilla Blueberry Hamantaschen
- seeds from 1 vanilla bean or ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- blueberry jam or preserves
For Apple Cinnamon Hamantaschen
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- apple preserves
For Confetti Nutella Hamantaschen
- ½ cup rainbow jimmies sprinkles
- nutella
For Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Hamantaschen
- 16 mini chocolate peanut butter cups or small candy bars cut in half
Instructions
For Lemon Raspberry Hamantaschen
- Include zest from 1 lemon in the base dough. Use raspberry jam or preserves for filling.
For Orange Marmalade Hamantaschen
- Include zest from 1 orange in the base dough. Use orange marmalade or apricot preserves for filling.
For Vanilla Blueberry Hamantaschen
- Include seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or ¼ tsp of vanilla bean paste) in the base dough. Use blueberry jam or preserves for filling.
For Apple Cinnamon Hamantaschen
- Include 1 tsp cinnamon in the base dough. Use apple preserves for filling.
For Confetti Nutella Hamantaschen
- Include ½ cup of rainbow jimmies sprinkles in the base dough. Use nutella for filling.
For Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Hamantaschen
- Make the chocolate hamantaschen dough. Use mini chocolate peanut butter cups for filling. (Candy bars cut small work too.)
To Make the Base Dough (Lemon, Orange, or Vanilla)
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the unsalted butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until combined, pale, and fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and any zests or vanilla bean seeds, depending on the flavor you’re making. Mix to combine.
- Gently stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt on top of the batter already in the bowl. Then mix it into the rest of the batter until it all combines into a thick cookie dough.
To Make the Base Dough (Cinnamon or Confetti)
- Follow the above instructions without any zest or vanilla beans. Add in either cinnamon or sprinkles, depending on the flavor you’re making, when you mix in the flour.
To Make the Chocolate Dough
- Follow the above instructions without any almond extract, baking powder, zest, or vanilla beans. Add an extra ½ tsp vanilla extract when instructed. Also, add in only 2 cups of flour with 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and mix with the salt before combining with the rest of the batter.
- Chocolate hamantaschen may take a minute or two longer in the oven.
To Assemble
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about an eighth of an inch thick (or a quarter centimeter).
- Cut the dough into circles anywhere from 3 to 4 inches in diameter (7 ½ to 10 centimeters).
- Remove any excess dough. Set it aside.
- Scoop about 1 tsp of jam, preserves, or nutella (or place a piece of candy) in the center of the cut out circles.
- Fold each side into a triangle around the filling. Place the folded hamantaschen on a parchment lined cookie sheet, leaving them some room to expand in the oven.
- Continue the process until you’ve used up all your dough.
- Bake hamantaschen in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until slightly golden brown. The filling will thicken as they cool.
Notes
- To ensure that the cookies hold their shape and the filling won’t leak out, choose jams or preserves, instead of jellies. Jams are generally thicker with less water content.
- For the chocolate peanut butter cup hamantaschen, you can substitute the mini chocolate peanut butter cups for nearly any chocolate candy of your choice! If you use a small chocolate candy bar, cut it down to about the same size as the mini peanut butter cups.
- For the confetti nutella hamantaschen, make sure to use the jimmies style sprinkles and not nonpareils, which will dye your batter gray or brown.
- If you need non dairy or pareve hamantaschen, replace the unsalted butter with a vegan or oil-based butter substitute.
- Folding hamantaschen: 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.
- 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.
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Marni
These are FANTASTIC!!!! I highly recommend the apple cinnamon, but they’re all great. The dough is not dried out and the flavors in the dough with the fillings are all awesome together.
Alana Lieberman
Thank you! I love the apple cinnamon too. So many great flavors to choose from!
RAHUL
Nice
Alana Lieberman
Thank you!