Recipe: Molly Yeh’s Marzipan Sprinkle Hamantaschen

We were delighted to have the food writer and photographer Molly Yeh, author of Molly on the Range, on our podcast Unorthodox a couple of weeks ago. She talked to us about studying percussion at Juilliard, leaving Brooklyn for a sugar-beet farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border, and how far she has to go for a good bagel with lox these days (all the way to Alaska, it turns out). She also brought us a batch of her ah-may-zing marzipan sprinkle hamantaschen. Each one is a tiny, joyful, edible Purim miracle. Many of you wrote in asking for the recipe, and Molly kindly agreed to share it with us. Enjoy!

Marzipan Sprinkle Hamantaschen
Recipe courtesy of Molly Yeh
Makes about 30

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 batch of hamantaschen dough from Uri Scheft‘s Breaking Breads or Leah Koenig‘s Modern Jewish Cooking (or feel free to use the dough of your choice)
[Editor’s note: We also recommend Joan Nathan’s dough]

For the filling:

2 cups almond flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
a tiny splash of rosewater (optional)
all-purpose flour, for dusting
lots of sprinkles (I use a mix of sanding sugar and cylinder sprinkles)
6 tablespoons raspberry or cherry jam

Directions

Make your dough, and refrigerate it for the amount of time listed in the directions.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set them aside.

To make the marzipan filling, in a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sugar, and salt. In a separate small bowl, combine the egg whites, almond extract, and rosewater (if using). Add this to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined. It always seems like there won’t be enough liquid at first, but keep on stirring until it comes together into a dough. (If you’re preparing this in advance, at this point you can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to two days.)

On a work surface, roll out the marzipan until it is 1/4″ thick, dusting with additional almond flour or all-purpose flour if it gets sticky. Cut out 1 1/2″ circles with a round cookie cutter, or if you don’t have a 1 1/2″ cookie cutter you can simply roll little balls by hand and flatten them into circles. In a small bowl, make an egg wash by whisking together the egg yolks and and a splash of water. Brush the marzipan circles with egg wash and dip them in sprinkles so that the tops get evenly coated. Set aside them aside.

Dust your surface with more flour, if needed, and roll out your hamantaschen dough until it is 1/8″ thick. Cut out 3″ circles, re-rolling scraps as needed. Brush the tops with egg wash, place a 1/2 teaspoon jam in the center and then top with a marzipan sprinkle circle. Fold the edges up to form a triangle shape and pinch the corners firmly to seal. Place on the baking sheets, 1″ apart and bake until the bottoms are lightly browned. Begin checking for doneness at 13 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

TIP: If you have any marzipan leftover, bake the circles by themselves (with or without sprinkles) for about 8 or 10 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. let cool and enjoy!)

Related: Savory Hamantaschen Recipes to Spice Up Purim
Two Purim-themed Cocktails From Mixologist Charles Joly

Unorthodox is a smart, fresh, fun weekly take on Jewish news and culture hosted by Mark Oppenheimer, Stephanie Butnick, and Liel Leibovitz. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.