This poppy seed filling can be used for cookies like hamantaschen, kolaches, strudel, coffee cakes and more. The natural bitterness of the poppy seeds mellows when ground and cooked with butter, milk, sugar, and honey. Tempered egg and cooking over gentle heat slowly thickens the filling. The result is a rich, delightful filling that won’t run out of baked goods as they cook.
During the Jewish holiday of Purim, poppy seed hamantaschen are a popular treat. The most traditional filling for hamantaschen cookies is poppy seed (known in Yiddish as mohn). Some people believe this tradition finds its roots in a pun. In Yiddish, Hamantaschen literally translates to “Haman’s pockets.” A slight variation of the word, ha-mohn-taschen, literally translates to “the poppy seed pockets.”
Whatever the reason, poppy seed is the most popular of all hamantachen fillings. This is my favorite recipe for poppy seed filling. I have also used it to make kolaches and coffee cakes with great results.
Some people purchase Solo canned filling to make their poppy seed baked goods. This homemade filling is comparable in terms of texture, with all the goodness of homemade.
To make this filling parve (dairy free), I’ve recommended some specific substitutes below. I really like this filling better using dairy, but you can get a descent parve result using the recommended substitutions.
Need a delicious and foolproof hamantaschen dough recipe? For my Dairy Free Hamantaschen dough, click here. For my Buttery Hamantaschen dough, click here.
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Poppy Seed Filling for Cookies, Pastries and Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole unground poppy seeds
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (see cooking instructions for parve subs)
- 1 cup milk (see cooking instructions for parve subs)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
NOTES
Instructions
- Grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder in batches for about 15-20 seconds per batch, until they are ground soft and powdery.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the milk, sugar, honey and salt (read the salt note in the notes section of this recipe before adding). Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, till the sugar dissolves and the honey melts.
- Pour about 1 cup of the hot liquid into a cup.
- Immediately but gradually being drizzling the hot liquid into the beaten eggs. Whisk briskly and constantly till all of the hot liquid is integrated into the eggs. Do not pour too quickly, or you'll scramble your eggs. It should take about a minute to drizzle all of the liquid.Slowly pour the heated, tempered egg mixture back into the hot liquid in the saucepan, whisking constantly.
- Continue to whisk and cook for 3-5 more minutes over medium heat till the mixture thickens and turns light yellow. It is ready when it thickly coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove the saucepan from heat. Whisk the ground poppy seeds into the buttery liquid and stir well to blend all ingredients.
- Allow filling to cool to room temperature before using. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
- To make this filling parve (dairy free), you will need to use a substitute for the milk and the butter. For the milk, I like SoDelicious coconut creamer, which gives it a creamy, very faint coconut taste (vegan, but produced on dairy equipment for those who are strictly kosher). You can also use regular coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk or soy milk as a sub.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Hi Tori,
I have used your buttery hamenstaschen recipe and I really love it. Thanks so much for sharing .When I bake the hamantaschen all the cookies turn out great and look wonderful except when I use canned poppy seed filling…… I realize I can make it from scratch but I don’t have the time. I also use other fillings such as canned apricot cake and pastry filling and almond cake and pastry filling and I do not have the problem when using those fillings. Those fillings are used with the same batches of dough so I think that leaves out the notion that it could be a certain batch of dough. Also note that the fillings are Solo brand.
Do you have any suggestions on what I might be the problem or what I might add to the canned poppy seed filling as there must be something about it that is causing the cookie to lose its shape and spread. In addition the poppy seed filling is not runny or thinner than the apricot or almond filling. As with the other fillings I do not use more than a teaspoon and in fact the second batch of the poppy seed I tried using a tad bit less than a teaspoon but the cookies still spread and lost their shape.
I would appreciate any suggestions you have.
Thank you and happy Purim
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl, I do not used canned filling, so really not sure what could be going on with that… perhaps the filling is too liquid? It doesn’t make a lot of sense since the other canned fillings are working fine for you. Have you tried my “from scratch” poppy seed filling? I know you mentioned you don’t have time to make from scratch. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Excellent recipe! I made it last Purim with great success. However, I froze leftovers and wasn’t pleased with the result (though I must admit it was 8 months before I looked at the filling again and it didn’t look so good). I just made it again because I had a request for poppyseed hamantaschen in November! Unfortunately, I ended up scrambling the mixture before adding the poppyseed and had to start again. This time, I didn’t take any chances and used some cornstarch in place of the egg. The result was almost as good, though less custardy than your version. I’ll give it another try next Purim. I’m going to try freezing my leftovers again–and we’ll see how they turn out. Maybe I won’t wait so long to use the filling.
Can leftover be frozen?
That’s a good question – I have never frozen this filling, I’m honestly not sure how it will hold up.
Hi,
Hamantashen time is soon..in March for Purim.
I am looking for recipes for cookie dough poppy seed hamantashen.
I see your recipe for the filling, how about the dough as well?
If you are going to San Francisco, the best I ever had, aside from my mothers, can be found at House of Bagels on Geary Street in San Fran.
Thanks.
Everything hamantaschen can be found here, including two dough recipes and all the fillings: https://toriavey.com/how-to/how-to-make-perfect-hamantaschen/
Tori! Thank you for your prompt reply!
I don’t care about dairy-free. I used oil in most of my bread baking and thought to mix room temperature components and then slow heat it up for thickening.
I am new to tempering and don’t know if my way may work.
Thanks, Greisha
If you are not worried about it being dairy free, I recommend sticking with the butter. Oil won’t work the same way here that it does in baked recipes. All the best!
Thank you.
Hi!
If I use oil instead of butter, do I need to go with heating everything and egg tempering?
Thanks!
I don’t recommend oil as a dairy-free sub, I recommend using a vegan buttery substitute like Earth Balance. I have not tested it with straight oil, but the tempering is crucial for thickening the filling. I can’t promise that using oil will work out without testing it.
Hi! Just wanted to point out that the origin of the poppy seed hamantaschen is not a pun- rather vice versa. Since Purim is to celebrate a hidden miracle, it’s traditional to serve foods with hidden “surprises” inside, such as kreplach. One favorite food was mohntaschen (they were originally pinched shut so you couldn’t see the filling). Since it was a popularly served on Purim people started calling them Haman-taschen.
Hi,
I have a question. I want to make these today but unfortunately, far away from home, living in a dorm, I do not have a grinder. Can I use whole poppy seeds for this filling? I think I will try anyways, but if anyone says i really shouldn’t I will give up on this filling sadly..
Thank you!
Roxana
Hi Roxana, the trouble with not grinding is the texture will be off, it won’t thicken or firm up the way it should.
I know this recipe is on how to make the poppy seed filling but I have searched every link for an answer to my question which is: I want to make lemon poppy seed muffins. It says to add 2 Tbsp poppy seed into dry mix but I only have poppy seed filling can you substitute the two & if so what would the equivalent be?
Hi Joyce, this is a difficult question to answer without knowing what recipe you are using and what filling you have on hand. Baked recipes can be finicky and filling has moisture in it, so you would be adding additional moisture to the batter. It might work, but without testing it myself I can’t give you a definitive answer.
I think the whole poppy seeds give muffins that special little “pop” I love so much. I think the filling is mostly ground poppy seeds, so I’m not sure it will give the same result. Let us know how they turn out if you try it. I still have a can of Solo filling I might risk on an attempt…
Making the poppyseed filling is a bit ambitious for me. I have Solo Poppyseed filling in the pantry and although there are comments that it’s not so good, do you have any suggestions on how to start with a canned filling and make it better?
Growing up in S. FL in the ’50s-’60s, my Russian grandmother used to send us a LARGE box of Hamantaschen each year from NY. She made them with a yeast dough (with sour cream & a lot of butter, not sweet) and mohn. When she visited one year, we wrote down her ‘recipe’, measuring the ingredients as she mixed the dough & mohn, as she didn’t normally measure anything! I’ve been making the Hamantaschen for over 50 years, now, and they are different from any others I’ve seen: first, they are LARGE, 6″ on the sides of the triangle, and they start out completely closed, though some will open slightly. The mohn is made by simmering the poppy seed, covered with water, for about 15 minutes, after which it is washed with water until there is no ‘milky’ material coming to the surface as it is stirred. The seed is then drained, and put into a blender, small amounts at a time(high speed is quicker), until the seed is a paste. (I think the initial cooking and wash takes away the material that creates the bitter taste some experience.) The poppy seed paste is then mixed with eggs, honey, and raisins (2.5# poppy seed, 2 eggs/1#-1.5 # of seed, 1/2 cup honey/# of seed(to taste), 1/2# raisins(cut or whole)/# of seed.) I usually make a double batch, and that results in 40-50 large Hamantaschen. (They freeze well.) My grandmother also used a filling of strawberry preserves, with chopped walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, and orange & lemon zest. I didn’t make any like that this year. I may have to mix another batch of dough….
what does # mean?
Pretty sure he means “pound,” as in the weight measure.
I couldn’t find ready made poppy seed filling for my hamentaschen this year so I went to the internet for a recipe. I used whipping cream (36% milk fat) instead of milk. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. HUGE HIT with everyone!!!! In my family it’s what we call a “keeper”. Thank you!
I halved the recipe (using weight for the poppy seeds) and it turned out great in terms of consistency — I didn’t love the lingering bitterness, though, so I squeezed in a bit of fresh orange juice (from the orange I zested for the cookie dough) to the cooling poppy seed mixture, and that extra dash of flavor was just what I wanted! Next time I might try a bit of zest in the custard.
Also, half the recipe was still enough to fill a few dozen hamentaschen!
Such a lovely recipe. I made these again today. I had to halve the filling recipe as I didn’t have enough poppy seeds. I followed the recipe exactly and it still turned out perfectly. I had the heat on med/low when adding the egg mixture in – I’m a scaredy cat for messing things up. And ended up having to cook it for 10 minutes to get it nice and thick.
Thank you so much Tori for this excellent recipe. There’ll be many happy faces at our Shabbat meeting tomorrow 🙂
Your poppyseed filling is by far the BEST!!
I love it, thank you for providing such wonderful recipes for us!!!!
Thanks for so many great recipes!! Can I freeze this filling?
I froze my batch of filling last year, and used it about 4 months later and it was still perfect. I found the full recipe made much more than I needed. For memory I spread it on some puff pastry and baked it – deelish 🙂
I am confused by the measurements for the poppy seed. The recipe states 8oz or 1 ½ cups of poppy seeds. 8oz is 1 cup, so not sure which is it… Also, I had bought 5.2oz of poppy seed (all our store had), and when I grind it up it ends up being 8oz. Should the poppy seed be measured before grinding or after?
8 ounces is a weight measure, not volume. You should measure the seeds in cups or in weight prior to grinding.
If I already have ground poppy seeds, how many cups of that?
If you have already ground them, please weigh them to make sure there are 8 ounces total.
Haven’t made the hamantaschen yet however have always been a bit nervous about doing a mohn filling. I just finished this recipe and it came out a perfect consistency and tastes very good as well. Looking forward to the next step.
Help, I made this recipe, but halved it. It is not custardy. It is too thin to be a filling for hamentachen. I do not have a coffee grinder, just a small Sunbeam blender. I wouldn’t say my poppseeds were powdery and soft. I did everything I could to make that happen, ie. blended it extensively, used a mortor and pestal, even a rolling pin and zipper bag.
How can I resolve this? I had planned to make the hamentaschen today to send to my sons.
Hi Carol. Unfortunately recipes don’t always work out like they should when they are halved, especially when it comes to thickness/consistency. You might not need nearly as much liquid when halving, but because I haven’t tested it this way I can’t tell you for certain. You can try mixing 1 tablespoon of corn starch and 1 tablespoon of water together, then add to the mixture and heat it, stirring, until it thickens. If that doesn’t work, continue adding this same mixture in the same proportion– 1 tbsp-1 tbsp — stirring over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Good luck!