Earlier today I posted my Dairy Free Hamantaschen recipe. I also wanted to offer a butter-based dairy hamantaschen dough for those who prefer a more buttery flavored cookie. This dough produces a tender, sweet hamantaschen. While many who keep kosher prefer dairy-free cookies (so they can be served with a meat meal), others don’t mind adding butter to the mix. This dough provides a dairy hamantaschen option for your Purim menu.
I like this dough because it produces a rich, buttery, orange-scented cookie that is full of flavor. The dough will work with any hamantaschen filling, and it won’t open up/expand in the oven during baking, as long as you don’t overfill your cookies and your filling has the proper texture.
There are a few drawbacks–it needs to be thoroughly chilled before rolling out (it’s too sticky to roll at room temperature), and it is not as flexible to work with as my dairy free dough. That is the nature of butter doughs; when cold, butter becomes stiff, which in turn makes the dough somewhat stiff and tougher to shape. That said, if you have some experience with baking and working with butter dough, this one should pose no problems for you… in fact, it’s one of the easier butter doughs that I’ve worked with.
Note: if this is your first time making hamantaschen and/or butter dough, I recommend starting with my Dairy Free dough. It’s easier to work with than the buttery one, and the flavor is similar.
You can use any hamantaschen filling you like with this dough; I’ve linked to the filling recipes available on my site below. The key to a good filling is to make sure it is thick enough to prevent running, but not so thick that it bakes up dry or tough. All of these filling recipes are tasty, and they all have the proper texture for use in hamantaschen. I will update this list of fillings as I add new ones to the site.
Hamantaschen Fillings
Rabbi Olitzky’s Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Filling
For my Dairy Free Hamantaschen dough, click here. To learn more about the holiday of Purim, click here.
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Buttery Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-5 teaspoons water (if needed)
Instructions
- Slice room temperature butter into small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Add sugar to the bowl. Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes till light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest to the bowl. Beat again till creamy and well mixed.
- Sift flour and salt into the bowl.Mix with the electric mixer on low speed till a crumbly dough forms.
- Begin to knead dough with hands till a smooth dough ball forms. Try not to overwork the dough, only knead till the dough is the right consistency. If the crumbles are too dry to form a smooth dough, add water slowly, 1 teaspoon at a time, using your hands to knead the liquid into the dough. Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch (not sticky), with a consistency that is right for rolling out. It can easily go from the right consistency to too wet/sticky, so add water very slowly. If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour till it reaches the right texture.
- Form the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours to overnight.
- Before you begin to assemble the hamantaschen, choose and make your filling and have it on hand to work with. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly flour a smooth, clean surface. Unwrap the dough disk and place it on the floured surface. The dough will be very firm after chilling.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. At the beginning, it will be tough to roll out-- you may need to pound it a bit. A heavy rolling pin works best. As you roll, cracks may form on the edges of the dough. Repair any large cracks with your fingers and continue rolling.When the dough reaches 1/4 inch thickness, scrape the dough up with a pastry scraper, lightly reflour the surface, and flip the dough over. Continue rolling the dough out very thin (less than 1/8 of an inch thick). The thinner you roll the dough, the more delicate and crisp the cookies will turn out-- just make sure that the dough is still thick enough to hold the filling and its shape! If you prefer a thicker, more doughy texture to your cookies (less delicate), keep the dough closer to 1/4 inch thick. Lightly flour the rolling pin occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Use a 3-inch cookie cutter (not smaller) or the 3-inch rim of a glass to cut circles out of the dough, cutting as many as you can from the dough.Gather the scraps and roll them out again. Cut circles. Repeat process again if needed until you've cut as many circles as you can from the dough. You should end up with around 35 circles (unless you've kept your dough on the thicker side, which will result in less cookies).
- Place a teaspoon of filling (whichever filling you choose) into the center of each circle. Do not use more than a teaspoon of filling, or you run the risk of your hamantaschen opening and filling spilling out during baking. Cover unused circles with a lightly damp towel to prevent them from drying out while you are filling.
- Assemble the hamantaschen in three steps. First, grasp the left side of the circle and fold it towards the center to make a flap that covers the left third of the circle.Grasp the right side of the circle and fold it towards the center, overlapping the upper part of the left side flap to create a triangular tip at the top of the circle. A small triangle of filling should still be visible in the center.
- Grasp the bottom part of the circle and fold it upward to create a third flap and complete the triangle. When you fold this flap up, be sure to tuck the left side of this new flap underneath the left side of the triangle, while letting the right side of this new flap overlap the right side of the triangle. This way, each side of your triangle has a corner that folds over and a corner that folds under-- it creates a "pinwheel" effect. This method if folding is not only pretty-- it will help to keep the cookies from opening while they bake.
- Pinch each corner of the triangle gently but firmly to secure the shape. If any cracks have formed at the places where the dough is creased, use the warmth of your fingers to smooth them out.Repeat this process for the remaining circles.
- When all of your hamantaschen have been filled, place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, evenly spaced.
- Place them in the oven and let them bake at 350 degrees for 10-25 minutes, until the cookies are cooked through and lightly golden. Start checking them at 10 minutes; because the dough thickness tends to vary on these cookies they can cook quite fast if rolled thin. In most ovens it will take around 15-20 minutes, but best to keep a close watch over them as they cook to avoid overcooking or burning.Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag or Tupperware.
NOTES
Nutrition
One of my dad’s favorite treats is poppy seed hamantaschen. He’s been sick and in and out of the hospital lately, so I decided I’d try my hand at making them for him. I found your recipe for the dough and the poppy seed filling, and gave it a go. He loved them!
http://i.imgur.com/15abqkm.jpg
I was surprised when my older son who lives clear across the country requested hamantaschen when I asked what I could bake and send for his 30th birthday (he loves my rugelach, but wanted something different). I had some older recipes from their days in religious school, but decided to do a new internet search. I am SO HAPPY to have found your recipe, and your site! I loved your recipe, your detailed instructions, your pictures, and did I mention I loved your recipe (haha)! I, my husband, both of my sons, and all others I have shared these delicious hamantaschen with LOVE them.
So, a couple of things – I noted someone posted that they were not fond of orange and substituted almond extract – I will have to try that at some point as that describes my husband, but everyone else loved the orange – as a matter of fact, I used a couple teaspoons of OJ instead of the water to add even more orange flavor.
I made both your apricot and prune filling – our favorite was the apricot. I had to make 4 batches of dough to use up all the filling I made (next time I’ll read your directions a little more carefully, but the more hamantaschen the merrier !)
Lastly, for my second and subsequent batches of dough, I skipped the refrigerating overnight – your dough was easy to work with immediately – I rolled out with a little dusting of flour between wax paper sheets and used a glass to cut out the circles – AND, I even experimented with replacing a slightly lesser amount of flour with 1/2 cup chopped walnuts in the dough – DELISH !
Thank you so much Tori for this delicious recipe – I think I will revisit your site often!
~ Shari
Shari I am so pleased! Great tips here too.
This was my 3rd year making this recipe! I make the dough, then have friends bring fillings and we all assemble and bake together. It’s become such a loved yearly tradition for us, and the recipe always gets rave reviews!
Great Felicia! 🙂
Best Hamentashen recipe yet. My daughter’s been nagging me since the beginning of the month of Adar… And easy if you’re lucky enough (like me) to own a Thermomix….
best recipe ever, anyone who tried mine loved them. thank you!
What a mess. And,yes, I’m a proficient baker. Hard dough to work with, cracked, impossible to fill. Waste of time and butter. Went in garbage.
B, it sounds like you didn’t add enough liquid to the dough. Butter doughs can be quite tricky, even for those who bake frequently. As I’m sure you read, many have had great success with this recipe. I’m sorry you didn’t have a better experience!
This is my favorite hamentaschen recipe yet, and I have tried many different ones over the years, but this will be the one I stick with.
I used nutella to fill some, and then apple butter I had made in the fall to fill the rest. They were a huge hit with my family and coworkers.
Thank you!
This is my third year using your fab hamantaschen dough! Thank you! unfortunately, this year my dough is crumbly and impossible to work with… i never had this problem before! I added water but it makes a sticky mess. Where did i go wrong???
Hi Ilana– it sounds like you didn’t add the correct amount of water. Sometimes it only takes a few more drops for it to come together, and if you add too much you’ll get that “sticky mess.” It’s really something you have to get a feel for. So sorry it didn’t work out this time, better luck next time!
This dough is amazing! Made my hamentaschen with it and it came really delicious, not too sweet, orange zest really adds a nice flavor and just the right amount of crunchiness
Yummy! Just out of the oven and I could hardly wait to taste! I used the Buttery dough recipe and finally a hamantashen that stayed folded. Thank you Tori. They are just delish. Can I freeze the apricot and poppy filling?
Great to hear that Aleece! The apricot filling will probably freeze fine (I haven’t tried it though). Not sure about the poppy seed, that’s pretty iffy due to the dairy involved.
can I use margarine instead of butter
Hannah– yes, however if you’re going to do that you might as well make the dairy free version, the dough is easier to work with and the flavor is very similar. Here’s the recipe: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2012/03/dairy-free-hamantaschen/
Amazing and easy. Can you freeze the dough or can it be chilled for a few days?
Please read through the comments, I have addressed this question with other readers. Glad you enjoyed the dough!
I made the recipe on Sunday. It came out great–just too sweet. I would take out about 1/3 or 1/4 of the sugar. These also would hold up well if giving out in mishloach manot.
Hi there, we just made this recipe this evening, and they turned out pretty well. We just had one problem: when we took the dough out of the fridge, it was nice and hard and chilled. It slowly softened, and we rolled it out on parchment paper with flour sprinkled on it, and then started cutting the circles. When we went to take the circles off though, they were all sticky and stuck to the paper – we couldn’t get a single one off successfully, so we ended up rolling dough into balls, and re-rolling them directly on the pan to fill. They taste good, but they’s hard on the eyes. Do you know what we did wrong? Not enough flour? The parchment paper?
Hi Mira– as the recipe states, you should have rolled the dough out on a floured surface, not directly on parchment. It also helps to flip the dough at 1/4 inch, re-flour the surface, and roll again until thin. When following the recipe exactly as written, you shouldn’t have any trouble. The surface needs to have a nice coating of flour on it. Better luck next time.
Hi , I made the dairy free hamentashen recipe this week with my children with homemade Prune filling that I added some cinnamon to. They were out of this world and I usually won’t make/ don’t like a cookie without butter 😉
I was planning on doing a Nutella batch tomorrow and figured…dairy filling, may as well have a dairy dough.
Just wondering why the fat content in the buttery ones is so much higher for the same amount of flour ? What causes the need for so much more butter than oil?
Thanks !!
So glad you liked the hamantaschen Klila! Honestly the dairy-free and buttery boughs taste very similar, so if fat content is a concern stick to the dairy-free dough. My main concern in developing both doughs was a proper consistency for folding and shaping, it worked out that this ratio of butter to flour worked well. I wasn’t worried about the nutritional aspect. I count my blessings, not calories. 🙂
Could you please provide me with Hamantaschen recipes for different fillings asap?
Many Thanks
Elisheva, in the post above there are links to all of the filling recipes on this website. Just click on the name of the filling you like and it will take you to the recipe.
Is it possible to sub 1/2 of the dough with almond flour instead or do you think it would be a bit too crumbly?
Hi Ella, I have no idea. I’ve never tried it before. My guess is it will be more crumbly and difficult to shape.
Hi, can you tell me if the dough can be frozen? thanks
Hi Lori, I’ve never frozen this dough but my guess is that it will freeze just fine. I can’t promise because I’ve never tried it, but I can’t really see why it wouldn’t work.
Hello-can the filled Hamentaschen be frozen and then baked off? I have 14 dozen to make, thus the question. Thanks.
Hello,
I was wondering if you think a good all purpose gluten free flour blend would work in this recipe? I know it will change it a bit, but do you think it would change it too drastically?
Thanks!
Hi Andrea, I have tested this for my gluten free readers, unfortunately I cannot recommend it. The brands I tried (King Arthur and another one I can’t remember) made the dough too crumbly and I was unable to fold the cookies into triangles. I think some readers may have had success with it (read through the comments and you might find some advice on this) but personally I was unable to make it work.