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
NOTES
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.
Lisa says
These turned out fabulous! Easily the best hamantaschen I’ve ever had. The orange zest in the dough really puts them over the top. Thank you!!!
Judith Feller says
I just took mine out of the oven – and of course had to try and eat one without burning my tongue. They’re so delicious. And the recipe is foolproof. Thankyou Tori for all the photo instructions – that helped a lot. I had made my filling, and the dough, and had rolled it out and cut out all the circles, when I had visitors. I covered them over with a damp tea-towel and 90 minutes later came back and finished them off. They still turned out pretty good – just a few small cracks around the bottom. I used only a half recipe of the poppy seed filling but it was the perfect amount for the full recipe of dough. Shalom to you <3
doreen says
fantastic recipe. i did these with my grands today and was a little apprehensive about how it would go… we even substituted spelt flour and coconut oil in the place of canola for one of the batches. it was excellent and so easy to handle the dough when following the portions suggested! thank you so much!
Sally says
Wow, I made the parve version and it is delicious with nutella. I love it and the dough was the easiest to make hamantaschen dough ever. I do have a recipe the previous poster might like that is softer and great with prune filling – a very classic hamentaschen dough recipe, not sure how to get that to her. I also found these crunchier than I might like, but going to put a piece of bread in with them to see if it softens up a little. The flavor is delicious and I am going to make these again with chocolate chips and apple filling. Making hamentaschen has always been my worst food because the dough I have been using is delicious but hard to work with. This is a great replacement! Thank you!
Tori Avey says
Hi Sally– you can try taking them out of the oven 1-2 minutes earlier, too, for a softer result. The moment it is baked through you can take it out. The longer it bakes the crunchier it becomes.
Liat Segall says
Great recipe!
Tried it for the first time and it was foolproof!
Thank you so much!
Liat
Amy says
Tori, this is a wonderful recipe! I made it while the dough was fresh, but I’m wondering if I can refrigerate the dough to use in a few hours (going to make them with my son’s class!).
Thanks!
Tori Avey says
Yes it shouldn’t be a problem Amy, it may take a bit of time to soften enough for rolling.
Vivian says
I made these yesterday with my husband to bring to a neighborhood dinner party as a dessert! I have made hamantaschen my entire life, but didn’t have a “go to” recipe. My husband had never participated in baking them before. The recipe was easy to follow and the results were very tasty. We particularly appreciated the tips on how to fold the triangles and the addition of the orange zest added a wonderful flavor! They were a HUGE hit among my neighbors who had never even heard of hamantaschen!
The end results produced a hamantaschen that had a hard cookie-like consistency and I, personally, prefer a softer pastry feel for hamantaschen. Would the recipe that uses butter provide a softer cookie consistency or do you have other recipes that would produce that outcome? Thank you for sharing your expertise!
Tori Avey says
Hi Vivian! Glad you enjoyed them. The butter dough has a slightly softer consistency, but it is very similar. You are likely looking for a yeast dough, which I don’t have on my site (mostly because they don’t seem to fold or keep their shape as nicely). You could also try Rabbi Olitsky’s dough, which is a bit softer due to the vegetable shortening: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2010/02/hamantaschen-and-the-story-of-purim/
Margie N. says
Thanks for posting a dairy free, gluten free dough recipe. Can you advise? I made the dough, and followed the recipe to the letter and refrigerated it for two days. I baked them and dough is very dry. I had them in the 350 oven for 12 minutes. The dough is cooked through and has a good taste, but so dry.
I used a 2.5 inch cutter (I know, I know…) and maybe rolled it too thick.
So I’ll bake the rest of them with the 3 inch cutter, and roll thinner. Other than that, do you have any suggestions?
Thanks again for your recipes.
Tori Avey says
Hi Margie – this dough isn’t gluten free. I’m wondering if you used a gluten free baking mix as a substitute, and maybe that is why you had the texture issue? Also this dough isn’t supposed to be refrigerated. Doing so for a few hours probably won’t hurt, but I have never experimented with refrigerating it for any extended period of time.
Debbie says
Never attempted to make hamantaschen until I saw your recipe. Great recipe. I used lemon zest instead of orange zest. Loved the step by step photos. I was so grateful that you included the note about the dough being tacky versus sticky. That was so helpful in understanding the final texture of the dough. Didn’t realize the dough would need a lot more flour when rolling it out. Fortunately, I did not roll out the entire batch at once. I divided it in half hoping to learn from any mistakes with the first batch. As others have said this makes for a great cookie dough, as well. You are 100% correct, anymore than a teaspoon of filling will spill out in baking. Thanks. Hope to save a lot of money by making Hamantaschen rather than spending a small fortune buying them!
Deborah Katcher-Buckley says
The dough was so easy to work with. I made apricot and raspberry. This will be my go-to recipe from now on.
Alyssa says
Hi Tori,
I’m hoping to try this recipe for Purim this year. I was hoping to make some of the food ahead of time. Do you know if the cookie will do well baked, frozen, then later thawed?
Thanks!
Rebecca says
Tried a couple of recipes- this is the winner! Making another batch tomorrow night!
Devorah W says
I made these for Purim last year….and they were the best hamentaschen I’ve ever made! Loved the taste of the orange zest, it added the perfect compliment to the blackberry and apricot fillings I used. I did have to add a lot of extra flour (almost a full cup) but once the dough was the right consistency, it was really great! Delicious taste, and the cookies turned out stunning! Thanks Tori! We are definitely making these again this year — my kids are already asking about them. Last year I tripled the recipe, and this year we are making even more!
Harriet says
I have to use whole wheat flour because of an allergy…do I have to adjust the recipe in any way? Do I need to add additional liquid?
Thanks in advance!
Tori Avey says
Hi Harriet – I’ve never made this with whole wheat, so I’m not sure how the substitute will work. If you try it will you please let us know how it turns out?
Nancy says
I used whole wheat pastry flour and they turned out great.
Rach says
Hurray for hamentashen! It was Tu B’Shvat today and my preschooler was already done with the tree thing, and asking to make hamentashen for Purim. Perfect quiet activity after a day out in the snow, and this was the perfect easy dough recipe. We used coconut as our oil, demerara as our sugar, and (based on kids’ creative contributions) chocolate chips and multicoloured sprinkles as our filling. The dough was neither too sticky nor too crumbly for the kids to handle, and they appreciated the step-by-step photos on how to fold. Thank you for the lovely recipe!
Tori Avey says
Awesome Rach! Glad to know coconut oil works as an oil sub here. 🙂
Mushka says
Is there any way to thicken up a preserve in order to use for this recipe?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Mushka, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. You might try to cook the preserves on the stovetop so that they can reduce and thicken further, though we have not tried this method and cannon guarantee results.
Lucy says
Whenever I need to thicken fruit preserves I always cook them on the stovetop with a bit of potato starch mixed in, the starch thickens as it cooks and makes a nice jelly
Lina patel says
Hi Tori. I tried to bake the cookies today with some difficulty. It is my first time baking these cookies and there was definitely a learning curve for me. .The dough was too wet and sticky and I was afraid of adding too much flour. So rolling was a challenge with the dough sticking inspite of flouring the rolling pin and the work surface heavily. I cannot even dream of trying the butter cookies as I found these challenging enough. Any suggestions? I used the Bonnie Maman apricot preserve which oozed out of every single cookie. The Nutella filling did not ooze out.
Tori Avey says
Using preserves will not work as a filling for this type of cookie, that is why I provided filling suggestions– the filling needs to be thicker, otherwise you will have oozing. Nutella is thick enough on its own, but for fruit filling you should use my apricot filling recipe. As for the sticking, if you read through the directions carefully it says: “If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour till it reaches the right texture.” Don’t be afraid to add a little extra flour to get the consistency required for easy rolling. It can take a bit of practice, but once you get a feel for the dough you’ll be good– don’t be afraid to give it another try. Good luck!
Jessica says
Might not be the typical occasion, but I’m making up some of these for my grandpa’s birthday this weekend; I’ve never made them before as they’re not one of my traditions, but I’m excited for it anyway! Going with traditional poppy seed as well as caramel apple and raspberry; hoping to experiment with a coconut filling too if I can get the consistency appropriate. Thanks for the recipe, I’m sure they’ll turn out awesome.
Maria Rafalco says
Thank you so much, Tori, for sharing your wonderful Hamantaschen recipe. I am not Jewish. I am Christian but the youth choirs at our church were performing a production on the story of Esther so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make Hamantaschen for the first time and serve at the reception after the play. I have always enjoyed Hamantaschen cookies, but the store bought ones are often so dry and mealy. Unfortunately, time constraints did not allow me to make any of your fillings ( I bought some high quality plum and apricot fruit spreads), but I did make your dairy free recipe. The instructions were perfect and the cookies were an enormous hit. I also created a note on the cookie tray to share a bit about the history and culture behind the cookie to inform those that weren’t familiar. I will definitely make these again! All the best to you.
Sasha says
Hi Tori,
We made this and buttery hamantaschen last week for Purim. We loved them!
I made dairy-free version with kids together. It is a bit easier dough to handle, so it was
easier to make it with kids. Cookies came out perfect and held up well together. We used apricot feeling (from your recipe), puppy seeds feeling (from your recipe), kids came out with banana feeling and also nutella. All turned out to be great and was eaten fast.