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.
Recommended Products:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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
I’ve made these before and they are fantastic! I’m going to be a little short on time the night that I want to make them so I was wondering if it’s ok to put in the refrigerator for a few days and then roll out and shape and bake?
Up to 2 days ahead should probably be fine, tightly wrapped. Not sure I’d let it go longer than that.
Your recipe for hamantaschen is the best I’ve ever used. This year I’d like branch out with some new filling ideas. I’d like to try salted caramel filling, but the recipe suggests adding the filling after they bake. Do you think this will work, or should I look for something else?
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe! I don’t know about the salted caramel filling as it’s not from my site. I’ve never filled hamantaschen after baking. Have you tried my Caramel Apple Filling? It’s pretty tasty and has a hint of salt. 🙂
Just made some poppyseed, Nutella and plumbutter Hamantaschen.
Are they supposed to be crispy or soft. Since your baking times are extremely vague and I didn’t want to end up with doughy cookies, I baked them for 22minutes. They would probably be done around 15 min. Mine weren’t burnt, but I think your suggestion of 10-25 minutes could be narrowed down a little better.
I still love them and will try them again
Hi Inge, I purposely keep it broad because people tend to roll them to different thicknesses, and it can really affect cook time. As I recommend above, 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.
Thank you so much for this Wonderful recipe.
Both of my kids VERY picky I tried several hamantaschen And this is the delicious !!!! Thank you and Happy Purim?
So glad it worked out for you!
I made these last year for Purim and they turned out fantastic! I used a few different fillings of poppyseed, almond, and apple.
Thinking of trying a new filling this year- the one you list for Rabbi Olitzky’s Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Filling sounds delicious! Would that filling still work well if I use your dough recipe?
Thanks 🙂
Yes, for sure! It’s a very tasty filling. 🙂 I also recommend the caramel apple filling posted on my site.
Can you freeze the prune hamantashen
Very good! I was under a time crunch so I did not do the three hours of chilling, they worked well without it though.
Prepared these for my Sunday School class as we did a study of Esther. Mine didn’t look as pretty as the pictures, but were very tasty. I made both apricot and plum butter fillings. The dough was wonderful to work with, even for a first-timer. Great recipe!
These are so beautifully done, and I really like the folding method, I was hoping they would turn out so well. During the mixing phase, I had to add eggs to the room softened butter and sugar because the sugar and butter were popping out of the bowl with mixing they needed something liquid to help them buying together. Also I cut my rounds out and then rolled each individual round so I had a little more control rather than the whole sheet tearing as I peeled it off the counter. Unfortunately it’s been 20 minutes they’re still not brown they’re also not sticking together. The dough was too dry with flour to prevent sticking. I’m sure they will taste fine but they don’t appear anything like the pictures that you have posted
Hi Miriam, sorry to hear these didn’t work out for you. When you say you added eggs to the room softened butter – do you mean you added more eggs than the recipe calls for? I’m a bit confused about the changes you made, as the egg, vanilla and orange are supposed to be added to the butter and sugar after they are creamed together. The recipe also states that if the dough is too crumbly to add water slowly until it is smooth and slightly tacky – did you skip that part? Just wondering where things went wrong for you.
Hands down the best hamantaschen recipe I’ve tried (and I’ve tried several!) I added a little more orange zest and they were fantastic. Used the canned poppy filling; this recipe is perfect as it uses just one can. Definitely a keeper for future years!
I use this recipe EVERY Purim! Thank you! My cookies only get better and better! Great texture and shape! This year I did some flavor pairings—peach w/ginger AND chocolate w/cinnamon. Next level good!
Mine turned out really well! Thanks Tori!
Not sure if this is because I’m at sea level or what, but this is a fine butter dough for me and I had no issues rolling it out. Just takes a little working at first and they’re good to go.
I made a couple of additions this year, and I’m excited to keep experimenting with this as a base. I halved the vanilla and added an equal measure of almond extract to the dough, which played nicely with the citrus notes. I also tried out using a large tangerine for zest and it worked well. Trader Joe’s Reduced Sugar Apricot Jam and a leftover Dark Chocolate Orange worked well as this year’s fillings.
The only bad thing about this recipe is that I made the mistake of sharing my cookies and now have none left. Oh well, guess I’ll have to make another batch!
These are different and (i think) much better than the usual “Solo” recipe I usually make. Crispier, and less cake-y. For the first time, I made homemade lekvar, following your recipe, which came out just right. Made raspberry ones too, using jam. I “pre-rolled” the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap (to about 1/2 inch) and refrigerated for less time (was in a rush). The pre-rolling made the finish roll easier. I baked them in a convection oven, so lowered the heat a to 325, and they baked in about 12-14 minutes. They came out perfect. Your suggestion to start checking after 10 was a good tip. Going in the rotation. Thanks!
This is by far the best hamantachen recipe ever. I made it with the apricot filling and it turned out amazing. I get comments every year on how delicious and amazing they are. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
My daughter and I made for Purim this year. I’m a very novice baker, I couldn’t find our mixer, yet the recipe still came out great. Yum!
So yummy! I didn’t refrigerate the dough and it was still wonderful.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve used it a few years in a row and it always works and tastes great. If I wanted to make a huge batch and freeze some, would you recommend freezing them before baking, or after?
This is absolutely the best hamantaschen recipe I have ever tried. Thank you so much!
Thanks so much for ur weary delicious recipes, I am Hungarian we have a weary commen food. all ur resepis love it.
Just made these with my fiancé! They are delicious. We did roll out to 1/8 in and only got about 25-26 hamentaschen. We used your apricot filling recipe. The apricot mixture cooked way faster than we expected, but it was still yummy!
I just made these. First hamantaschen since I was kid, and boy, they worked great. Suuuper buttery and tasty. Thanks!