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.
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Buttery Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp grated orange zest
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-5 tsp water (if needed)
Notes
InstructionsÂ
- 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.
Ali says
This is the 4th year we’re making these – can’t go wrong with this recipe.
Liz Tosti says
Can I give this 100 STARS? I grew up with the most delicious Hamantaschen from a local bakery. I have been to many bakeries and none compared to the buttery dough. Several years ago I made another recipe and had an epic fail. Each hamantaschen opend up. Thank you for creating this recipe. Its exactly like my childhood ones. My only suggestions is how do I make them bigger next time! I’m going to experiment with a larger circle. The Hamantaschen were buttery, soft and crunchy.I baked mine for about 22 minutes, only one cookie opened up and I actually caught it while checking and folded it back in. Your direction for the bottom fold worked perfectly. My family loved them!! I did a combination of jelly’s, jam’s, apple butter, nutella and leftover Babka filling with farmers cheese and apricot jam. Absolutely making these again.
Nick KiTov says
Thank you. Very good recipes
Carolyn says
Best recipe! This was a total hit. Its easy to make with few ingredients. It does take a lot of time but I’m sure all hamentashens do! Thank you for sharing the most amazing recipe with us! Love it.
Alex J says
Thank you so much! Mine tasted just amazing (used Nutella filling). My only issue is that they didn’t look great. They were a bit flat and a bit pale. Again, consistency and taste were out of this world. Any piece of advice for shaping? Egg wash perhaps ?
Erika says
Best friggin hamantaschen I’ve EVER had! Raspberry Bonne Maman jam did the trick for filling. Thank you for yet another excellent recipe on this website!! My new go-to recipe for hamantaschen.
Bronwyn says
I used Raspberry and the Pineapple Passionfruit Bonne Maman jams in 2 of the 3 batches. My husband hovered around til he could get the jar, it’s so good on PB&J!
Ellen Dee says
All I can say is wow wow wow!!!
The most delicious dough. This recipe should work for a cookie as well. Bravo!
Mitchell Rothman says
This is a fantastic recipe. I am not a baker at all and the recipe’s detailed instructions and tips allowed me to make perfect hamantaschen with my very first try. I adjusted the moisture of the dough as the instructions said (starting in the wrong direction, but reading the instructions corrected me to get the dough to the perfect consistency). The consistency of the dough and its taste were perfect once baked.
Following the instructions about forming the hamantschen made perfect ones that did not leak jam. I am an experienced jam maker, and used my blueberry, strawberry, peach and raspberry jams with about 6 each (plus an experimental chocolate.) None of the jams ran outside, and some of my jams were not solidly set; I make only low-sugar jams without pectin, so they tend to be a little loose. The jam stayed in because the hamantaschen were so well formed. I am very grateful to Tori Avey for the quality of her recipe and the usefulness of her instructions.
Sandra Brown says
I just baked a batch of these today and am delighted with how well they turned out. I was happy to be able to deliver some to relatives for this year’s virtual Purim celebration. I made the dough 10 days in advance and froze it. I thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and then rolled it out without a problem. They have a nice buttery flavour with a slight crispness that’s just perfect. I did half with Tori’s Caramel Apple filling and half using a date-orange filling from my favourite date squares recipe. Both delicious!
Ari says
Tried these yesterday <3 was great!
Leah says
Super delicious hamentashen! This is my go-to recipe. The dough is very easy to work with and my family and neighbors love these! You do have to pinch the edges well, though, and not over fill them, or they will open.
Teresa C. Wyman says
I love the flavor but my hamentaschen puff up and spread. What am I doing wrong?
Tori Avey says
Try rolling them thinner next time, and make sure you use the folding technique outlined above rather than simply pinching the corners. Also don’t overfill them – just a teaspoon of filling should do it.
Karen W says
Made these Hamenstachen. What a huge hit! The dough was so easy to work with the orange zest added a very special flavor!!