It’s that time of year again… time to break out the bakeware and get into a “triangular” state of mind! The Jewish holiday of Purim is all about triangle-shaped foods– classic Jewish baked goodies like bourekas, sambusak, and of course hamantaschen cookies.
In the story of Purim, it is said that the villain Haman wore a triangular hat everywhere he went. Triangular foods like hamantaschen have three corners to represent Haman’s hat. My husband grew up in Israel calling these cookies oznei haman, which translates from Hebrew to “Haman’s ears.”Apparently, in some versions of the story, haman has triangular ears.
There is also a theory out there that Haman had triangular pockets, since the word hamantaschen literally translates from Yiddish as “Haman’s pockets” (I tend to think the translation has more to do with the fact that these cookies are filled, like little pockets of dough). A more poetic interpretation links the three corners of the triangle shape to the three founding fathers of Judaism—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Whatever the reason, it’s traditional to eat triangular foods like hamantaschen on Purim… so eat them we must!
I hit upon this Dairy Free Hamantaschen recipe after a few years of experimenting in the kitchen, searching for a foolproof hamantaschen dough. I’m a perfectionist, so my go-to dough needs to be absolutely perfect! I had a long list of criteria for the dough. I wanted it to have the following qualities:
– Easy to roll out
– Easy to shape
– Won’t expand/open around the filling when baked
– Does not include margarine or shortening
– Bakes up delicate with a nice texture (not heavy)
– Wonderful flavor that will compliment any kind of sweet filling
This dough satisfies all the criteria… it is truly a wonderful dough. It does not require refrigeration before rolling out. It’s also very easy to work with– the “feel” of the dough is terrific. It’s the best texture I’ve developed for rolling and shaping. Most importantly, it creates the tastiest hamantaschen ever. My family is in love with these cookies!
You can use any hamantaschen filling you like with this dough; I’ve linked to the filling recipes available on my site below (both dairy and non-dairy fillings). 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
Prefer a butter-based hamantaschen dough? Click here for my Buttery Hamantaschen recipe. To learn more about the holiday of Purim, click here.
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Dairy Free Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-5 teaspoons water (if needed)
- Nonstick cooking oil spray
Instructions
- Before you begin making the hamantaschen, choose and make your filling and have it on hand to work with. This dough will dry out quickly if left to rest too long, so it's best to have everything ready to assemble when you start.Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, canola oil, orange zest and vanilla.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet, using a large wooden spoon and using circular motions until a crumbly dough begins to form.
- Knead until smooth and slightly tacky to the touch. 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 until it reaches the right texture.
- Lightly flour a smooth, clean surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. 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, if you need to.
- 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.
- 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.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. You can fit about 20 on one sheet... they don't need to be very spaced out because they shouldn't expand much during baking.Place them in the oven and let them bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until the cookies are cooked through and lightly golden.
- Cool the cookies on a wire rack. Store them in a tightly sealed plastic bag or Tupperware.
NOTES
Nutrition
I finally got the courage to make them this year and followed your recipe to the letter. They turned out great! I loved the step by step about proper folding, that really helped and they all stayed closed! Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe (and the detailed instructions with great pics)!
The dairy free dough is much easier to work with!! I tried them both….Butter probably makes it taste richer but not sure it’s worth the hassle! Thanks and chag sameach!
Do you think I used enough exclamation points? Must remember to proofread.
I agree Melinda– not a huge difference in taste between the two, and the dairy free dough is so easy. Glad you enjoyed!
These were great but I had a hard time keeping them from sticking to everything, despite flouring the surface and adding more flour continuously. I had to start over rolling and cutting circles a couple times because I couldn’t get them into the pan! any suggestions?
Hi Robin, most people find this dough very easy to work with. Rolled doughs can be tricky though– anything from humidity to house temperature can affect their “stick” factor. Next time, try chilling the dough for 2 hours to overnight. Other folks have found that rolling out the dough between sheets of parchment or wax paper makes it less sticky. At any rate, I’m sorry you had this issue… glad the finished product turned out well!
Can I use Olive Oil as a sub for Canola Oil? I am thinking that the olive oil might have a pleasing taste.
What do you think?
I’ve never tried it James. It might be good, but it might also taste odd. If you try it please let me know what you think.
I used olive oil as I only use olive and coconut oils. It turned out fabulous. Thank yo Tori.
Thank you so much for your step-by-step directions. They gave me the confidence to try to make vegan hamentashen for my grandchildren. I’m retired and a Bubbe and my name is Esther, so no more excuses for not making hamentashen.
I am a horrible baker and these still come out fabulous. I always get complements. This year, my partner (from Norway) requested lingonberry. It’s flavor is similar to cranberry. I substituted lemon zest for the orange and added a bunch of cardamom. Cardamom in the dough works well for the Nutella as well.
I made these with a gluten free flour blend (homemade version of Better Batter), and they turned out beautifully!!! Not a single one exploded, and the dough was so easy to work with (which is uncommon in gluten free rolled doughs). Since being diagnosed with celiac disease 10 years ago, I’ve had minimal success with hamantaschen. Your recipe is a keeper!!! Thank you!!!!
Very happy to hear that Esther! Other GF readers will be pleased to know that this modification worked for you, thank you for sharing.
Hi! I’m a novice baker and gave this a shot last night. Sadly the cookies came out very crunchy, like the texture of a butter cookie (I used the non-dairy recipe, just to be clear). Remember those assorted cookies in the round blue tin? That’s what they’re like. They’re tasty, but definitely not the right melt-in-your-mouth consistency and I’m not sure where I went wrong. Any ideas? A few things I did, in case this messed me up: I halved the recipe since I did this as a “trial run,” and perhaps my dough wasn’t “tacky” enough (I was hesitant to add too much water, so the dough was more on the smooth side). Thanks in advance!
Illy, I’m not sure what you’re used to (families have a lot of different recipes for this cookie), but these cookies are supposed to have a similar texture to that of a butter cookie… so that result, in this case, is desirable. If you’re looking for a more melt-in-your-mouth texture, you’d be better off trying a different recipe– though I will say I’ve never had a hamantaschen with a melt-in-your-mouth texture before. At any rate, I’m sorry it wasn’t up to your expectations!
Thanks for your reply! Perhaps I’m misremembering it from my childhood. In any event, people seemed to enjoy them, so maybe I got it right in the end. 🙂
Dough was sticky. I had to add a LOT of flour. I also doubled the recipe. It took a lot of time to incorporate the extra flour. Any suggestions?
Hi Monica, I don’t recommend doubling baked recipes generally speaking, they don’t always turn out exactly as you’d hope. Better to make two separate batches of dough. Also were you using American measuring cups? I’ve been meaning to add metric measurements/weights to my baked recipes, which should help for a more uniform outcome, but I haven’t had a chance to yet.
Amazing!!! Thank you so much for such a yummy and simple recipe. Best ones yet.
Thanks also for the picture tutorial on folding.
I just finished baking a batch using bob’s Red Mill’s 1-1 gluten free baking flour. They turned out pretty good. The dough is very soft, but folds well. I rolled the dough out between plastic wrap to a 1/4″. I would make this a scant 1/4. However, when I tried to roll them out thinner, the dough tended to break. I did not get 30 cookies, per batch. I baked them for 20 min. But next them, I will try 18 minutes, because I don’t like a dry cookie.
Hi Tori. These sound delicious! Question: Would you recommend omitting the orange zest if using a chocolate-based filling? Thank you!
Rachel, yes I would– however, some people love the combination of orange and chocolate. For me, it’s a personal preference not to mix the two flavors. So it’s a personal thing, really!
I tried omitting the orange zest. Sadly, my hamantaschen turned out quite dry and flavourless. I’m not sure why. I baked them for 22 min. Perhaps I let the dough circles sit too long before filling them… though I did cover them with a damp cloth as you suggested. (I made them with my 3-year-olds and had to take a break to give them a snack.)
Hi Tori,
I am about to make these on the weekend but want to make sure I use the correct measurements – can you tell me how much is a cup in grams? Thanks a lot!
Hi Suzie, I’m not sure but if you do an online search for “recipe conversion metric” it should bring up some calculators for you.
Hi, Suzie 🙂 This is really late (or early, depends on your outlook!), but here’s a site that I find helpful. My daughter lives in Canada and I in WA, so we frequently need to reconfigure recipes we share.
https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/convert/measurements.html
(It might open to a page with several link possibilities; just click on the uppermost one, that has those exact words.)
Can I make this recipe ahead of time and refrigerate. I need to prepare dough for an event later.
Did you try this? Did it work?
Tori, yet again you bring this shiksa credibility with my partner’s semi orthodox family! I made these for my grandfather in law’s 100th birthday, which this year falls 2 days before Purim, and they were a hit. Thanks for the clear instructions and pics.
Just made these with my son and his friends. What a great recipe. So easy to roll out and a wonderful , crisp texture.
I mixed it in my kitchen aid mixer and had no problems.
This recipe is a winner! It is easy to make and bakes up so easily. It’s even delicious without filling! I made two batches of these, one with prune and one with guava paste (I live in South Florida). I’m in heaven. 🙂
This came out wonderful!
This is the first time I’ve made hamentaschen that the dough didn’t open for any of the hamentashen and the filling didn’t ooze out!
I used 4 Tbsp of coconut oil instead of oil, used 1/2 tsp of lemon juice instead of orange zest. I mixed it all by hand, didn’t refrigerate (because I was pressed for time) and it is now my favorite recipe!
Thanks so much!
Did you have to do anything different when using the coconut oil? How were they?
Hi Tori, can we make the cookies, freeze them raw, and cook them a week later? If I do that, should I let them thaw before baking or just throw them in the oven frozen? Thanks!!
Hi Naomi, while I haven’t tried this myself I have heard of others trying it with other recipes with good results. So while I can’t personally vouch for the technique, it’s probably worth a try. Good luck!
Did it work?
Living in the UK a long way from a Jewish bakers, I get asked to make hamantaschen for our small community. I usually make them using a yeast dough like the baker we had here some 50 years ago. His used to be soft pillows of sweet bread dough with either a cheese or poppy seed filling. Mine seem to lose most of what I put in, in spite of using the standard UK Jewish cook book (Evelyn Rose). But today I made poppy seed hamantaschen using your parev cookie dough. They have turned out just as good as any I can buy in London. But just if anyone else from the UK is trying to make them – our flour here is not the same as flour in the US (and/or our eggs are bigger). I think wheat in the US is harvested at a lower water content than here in the UK and the flour is drier. I did not need any water – and indeed needed some extra flour. But apart from that – brilliant Tori – and thank you, the filling has stayed within a crisp biscuit base.