Prunes may not seem like a romantic ingredient, however they are magical in the center of a freshly baked cookie. I use this recipe for lekvar (plum butter) as a filling for cookies, pastries, hamantaschen, kolaches, pierogis, strudel and more. The prunes are slowly simmered with aromatic ingredients and brown sugar to create a thick, luscious concoction. This plum butter can be used as a filling for baked goods, or as a spreadable sweet treat on toast or crackers. In addition, it’s nice and thick, which means it won’t run while it bakes.
This prune filling includes orange juice and zest. It will make your kitchen smell amazing as it simmers. Brown sugar adds depth and helps the filling to hold up better during baking. It also extends the shelf life of the lekvar.
I use plum butter (lekvar) for filling cookies like hamantaschen. It can be used for filling other cookies and pastries, including sweet pierogi dumplings, kolaches, and strudel. Or, serve it as a simple jam on toast or crackers. Try it on a toasted piece of French bread topped with a mild, nutty cheese– the flavor combination is heavenly.
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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Lekvar Plum Butter - Prune Filling for Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted prunes
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan except for the brown sugar. Stir and bring to a boil for one minute.
- Reduce heat to medium low so the mixture simmers slowly and constantly. Cover the pot. Let the mixture simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.Remove the lid from the pan. Let the prunes continue to simmer for 3-5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated/absorbed. Keep a close eye on the pan to make sure the prunes don't burn. When there are about 3 tbsp of liquid left in the pan, remove from heat.
- Stir the brown sugar into the prune mixture till brown sugar melts and dissolves.
- Mash the prune mixture with a potato masher till a smooth puree forms. Run a fork through the mixture to break up any pieces the potato masher missed. You can also use an immersion blender for a smoother puree, if you want to.
- Let cool to room temperature before using. Store in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator. Refrigerating the filling to chill completely will make it easier to work with when filling hamantaschen.
Nutrition
I made this lekvar jam for use in pierogies. It looks, smells and tastes absolutely delightful! The only change I made to the recipe was to chop up the prunes before cooking them. Made it much easier to purée at the end!
Tori: Have you heard of a lekvar-like hamantaschen filling called (phonetically) “pauvahtle”? My European immigrant Grandma made it; I remember it as essentially a prune jam, but with other ingredients, just don’t know what they were or how to find out. Google is no help so far…….
Thanks in advance,
Steve.
Steve – It’s funny you mention that. As I was looking for prune filling recipes I came across this article that tells the story of “povidl (a prune and plum jam)”. Here is the link to that article: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/why-prune-hamantaschen-are-the-best/
The article does not include a recipe, but maybe spelling it as the author did you might be able to find one. Best of luck and happy baking!
I made this last year and it was fantastic! Wondering if you think subbing figs for prunes would work, since some people are weird about eating anything with prunes.
Hello and thank you for your wonderful recipes.
I was wondering whether I could use Wesson Oil or other veg oil instead of canola oil in the dairy free hamantaschen recipe.
Thank you!
Wesson should work just fine. Enjoy!
First thing and most important is to go thru every prune and make sure every bit of pit is removed….
Second…I recommend using an immersion blender for best possible results
Third….I would replace the sugar with a natural high sugar fruit such as raisins
and last…. to prevent the bottom burning while reducing to thicken, I create a double cooker simply by placing the original pot into a larger pot with a baffle spacer on the bottom filled with water as it reduces
Ive been cooking fruit for fillings 50+ years….
Nothing better in the world than fresh home cooked fruit fillings
Thank you. I was wondering if the sugar could be reduced and make the dish more ‘whole food’ based. Your suggestions are wonderful and I can’t wait to try it.
i can’t get my prune filling to thicken. Any recommendations?
It will eventually thicken if you continue cooking it; as the liquid cooks out, it thickens. Just be sure to continue stirring frequently and let it reduce slowly. to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Does this use light or dark brown sugar?
You can use light or dark brown.
Is there a way to make this from fresh plums instead of prunes?
I have never made it that way; prunes are sweeter than fresh plums and have less moisture in them. You need a thick filling for hamantaschen (or any cookie) so if making with plums you would have to cook it for a long time to remove the excess liquid. Also I can’t be sure on proportions of the recipe without testing it myself. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Ways to safely store it if I need to make it days before! Thank you 🙂
Hi Carolina, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
I have made some of your recipes & tweak it for my tastes & I love them, thanks, Bob…
You’re welcome!
My daughter is giving a presention on Israeli foods for her Agricultural Science class tomorrow and wants to bring in Hamentashen. We searched multiple stores but could not find prune filling anywhere – MAJOR DISASTER! I found your recipe and figured I’d give it a try. It’s absolutely wonderful! My husband commented on how good the house smells and my son says it tastes “just like the regular kind.” I’m having trouble refraining from just eating it straight from the bowl, it’s so good! So easy to make and so much healthier than the commercial brands. I had found a jar of the apricot filling and just saw that apricots are only the third ingredient (after water and corn syrup, of course), and of course there are lots of unpronounceable ingredients. Baked the school hamentashen today and this weekend, I’m going to try your apricot filling recipe when I bake more for us. From now on, I’m making hamentashen fillings from scratch! Except Nutella. You can’t improve upon the perfection that is Nutella. Also Hershey’s kisses – some of our temple members use those as filling – just unwrap, put in the center of the circle of dough, and fold.
So happy I could help! Also I agree about the Nutella, haha.
Can’t wait to make this. My favorite fillings are prune and apricot, and there are no commercial brands available where I live. I’m sure this will be better!
I live in Port St Lucie, Fl and it is hard to find alot of Jewish products. I went to all the Publix supermarkets and Walmarts in my area and no one has prune butter. That’s when I decided to use Google and guess who popped up, my go to girl Tori. Thanks for the recipe. I can now make my mom’s recipe, which I try and make every year, for hamantaschen.
Awesome! 🙂
I made the prune lekvar and I wanted to eat the whole pot by myself. OMG is this delicious and my hamantachen are outrageous. I don’t want to share..Thank you..
We used to buy lekvar at our local Jewish deli. They always sold it close to Purim. However, making it at home lets us better control the ingredients, as we’ve become more sensitive to different foods and additives over the years. Plus we don’t have to wait for Purim. My mom added lemon juice to the deli-bought version so I’ll try the 1/2 OJ and 1/2 lemon juice suggested by one reader. We also use my grandmother’s sugar cookie dough recipe. So glad to have this recipe, thank you! I’ll be trying soon.
Enjoy Elaine!
Lekvar is actually Hungarian for jam. Any jam, really. The specific term for plum-jam is szilvalekvar.
FYI…there is NO store in Denver that carries the canned prune filling. (I have been to all of them!!) I usually buy it when I am out of state, but my stock was empty this year. I made this one instead and WOW!! Way better than canned. Now I don’t have to import across the state line (LOL). Thanks!
Try walmart
Why you dont put the ingredients by grams?
Love your recipes. 🙂
Congratulations…
You can find, just above the INGREDIENTS title, and next to ‘US Customary’ measurements, a toggle switch which, when clicked, will give you metric measurements.
Do you have a recipe for yeast dough hamentashen – my grandmother only baked these and we loved them!
Not on my website, but that seems to be a popular question this year. I will think about adding one next year.
My Bubby made yeast dough mohn and prune hamantashen too. Im thinking about using a cinnamon roll dough.
How do I save this for a long period of time like jam or jelly stays?
Hi Lynn, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. You can keep this in the refrigerator for several weeks, or can using a proper sterilized canning procedure.
Love your recipe for prune lekvar as well as the apricot and poppyseed versions! Just making all three for the second year. I was particularly pleased to find the prune one as it reminded me of the recipe I made with my mother many years ago when I was little. Hers always included chopped walnuts and some lemon zest–perhaps a few raisins thrown in for good measure. I don’t remember her ever making poppyseed hamantaschen, but as I know these are traditional, I’m trying out a few recipes and hoping to find one with a flavor I like. Poppyseed always seems to have a bit of a bitter edge and I haven’t quite figured out how to tame it, even with added sugar and honey. Thanks again for your great recipes!
Ruth — poppy seeds get bitter when they’re not fresh, so it’s important to find a shop that sells them fresh. These days, people seem to buy them already ground and sweetened. but I never did. I had a poppy seed grinder, but gave it to a friend who bakes way more. I remember, though, that poppy seeds were to be soaked in warm milk for a while before grinding. Perhaps that would help improve their flavor?