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My Mother-in-Law’s Hamantaschen

by
Daphne Keller
March 16, 2021
Photo: Or Hiltch via FlickrPhoto: Or Hiltch via Flickr

Before my mother-in-law stopped baking hamantaschen, she passed her recipe on to me, on three index cards covered with her loopy, barely legible handwriting. The recipe instructed me to brush the tops of the cookies with milk before baking, and then sprinkle them with sugar. But on the back of the last card, at the point where the cookies are out of the oven and already cooling on the rack, she’d added one last note: “I don’t bother sprinkling with milk and sugar—it doesn’t add anything.” This last sentence, informing me that what I had just done wasn’t really worth doing and didn’t meet with her satisfaction anyway, pretty neatly expresses the essence of our relationship.

I never made them while she was still alive because I could never have subjected myself to her comments after tasting one. But when the tins of hamantaschen stopped arriving from the Bronx at Purim, I knew the time had come to bake them myself. And I was determined to do even better than she had.

Featured in: My Hamantaschen Challenge

Great for: Purim

Ingredients

For the filling

  • 12oz unsweetened pitted prunes
  • 6oz unsweetened dried apricots
  • 1 ¼cups water
  • 1Tbsp lemon juice
  • ½cup mild honey

For the dough

  • 1cup butter, softened
  • 2cups sugar
  • 2eggs
  • 4cups flour (approximately)
  • 4tsp baking powder
  • ½tsp kosher salt
  • 4Tbsp milk
  • 1tsp lemon extract
Yield: About 54 cookies

Preparation

For the filling

  • Step 1

    Chop all the dried fruit into small pieces, and place it in a saucepan with the water.

  • Step 2

    Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until very soft. Add more water and cook a bit longer if the fruit is not yet soft.

  • Step 3

    Add the lemon juice and honey. Cook, stirring almost constantly, for about 5 minutes. Don’t let the mixture get too thick, as it will thicken more as it cools.

  • Step 4

    Mash lightly with a potato masher for a smoother consistency.

  • NOTE: You may have some of the mixture left over after filling the hamantaschen. It keeps well and is tasty on crackers with cream cheese.

For the dough

  • Step 1

    Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.

  • Step 2

    Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add some flour and blend. Add milk and extract and blend. Add remaining flour, baking powder, and salt, and blend.

  • Step 3

    Divide into 4 portions, approximately 10 oz. each, and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for one hour or more (or even all day). This is a very soft dough.

  • Step 4

    Roll out about 1/4-inch thick and cut in rounds (an upside-down glass works—or a 3-inch cutter). Place about 1 tablespoon of filling on each circle, depending on size of rounds. Draw up three sides of each circle, pinching together to form a triangle.

  • Step 5

    Transfer to greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until as brown as you like them.

  • NOTE: My mother-in-law always rolled her dough fairly thick—about a quarter-of-an-inch. She filled her hamantaschen with jarred prune or apricot butter, with some lemon juice and about a quarter cup of breadcrumbs added. This is delicious. Or you could try the wonderful prune and apricot filling below, adapted slightly from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies.