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 oz whole unground poppy seeds (1 1/2 cups)
- 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 tsp 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
erna sheyfer says
do you wash the poppy seed before
Tori Avey says
No.
Tonya says
The recipe says: “read the salt note at the end of this recipe before adding” but I can’t find it. Is this only if using a butter substitute, in which case, the note is at the beginning?
Tori Avey says
The notes section of my website template moved to the top, so yes – it’s referring to the note under the “Notes” section. I’ll revise, thanks.
Jenna says
Very good consistency and baked very well in my hamantaschen. I might add a little lemon zest to balance the sweetness or slightly reduce the sugar next time. I have a bit leftover from my baking — any experience with freezing and defrosting for later use?
Jodi says
Tried this recipe last night… love it. Perfect…thank you!
I used about 25% less sugar as I tend to do, just because we eat very little sugar in our household so our palate is accustomed to less sweet foods. For those who like the orange undertones, go ahead and up the orange juice a bit.
As an aside, for those interested in replacing the sugar (I see some comments about this above) I have had great success with Monkfruit sweetener. Replaces sugar 1:1 with zero calories (allegedly). Try the sugar format — NOT EXTRACT, which I think tastes like sweet ‘n low, ick.
Rachel Grand says
Hi!
I made this filling last week, changed it up a bit, but it was great! Made it again tonight and something’s not right. There are white bits in it. Is that the egg? It kinda looks like the chalazae. Or did I end up with some pieces of scrambled egg??
Also I left out the honey this time because I didn’t like the honey flavor in it the first time I made it. Will it be more runny when baked?
Anyway to fix this? Can I add more sugar?
Bev says
The filling is very runny, liquidy. How to I fix it?
Tori Avey says
If made correctly it shouldn’t be runny… I’m not sure how to salvage it, unless you want to try thickening with a corn starch slurry. Did you convert to metric measurements, by chance? Sometimes the conversion gets a little screwy, especially if you’re changing the amount of servings.
Ilana says
Hi Tori,
I’m planning on trying this filling this evening. About 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I’ve yet to eat a delicious gluten free hamentaschen, but I think I finally might have something this year as I’ve hit on a good, rolled GF sugar cookie recipe and plan to use that recipe as the dough. The only issue is that it’s a sweeter base than a hamentaschen dough usually is. Have you ever tried decreasing the sugar and honey content slightly. I’m tempted to try so that the final result isn’t overly sweet. Thanks for any thoughts you might have! By the way, your sriracha salmon cakes are outstanding! I substituted almond flour (and decreased the amount somewhat) for the panco. Happy Purim! -Ilana
Tori Avey says
Hi Ilana! I have not tried that, but would worry that the filling might not thicken as anticipated. If you try it, please let us know how it goes. So glad you enjoyed the salmon cakes! I love that recipe.
David E Rubin says
Since I have a Vitamix blender, I changed the order a bit, starting with grinding the poppy seeds in the dry ingredient pitcher and then adding the milk, eggs, and sugar (I used a 1 cup-sized solidified chunk of brown sugar instead of the white sugar and honey), mixing them at a low-to-moderate speed until the chunk of brown sugar had completely broken up and dissolved – about 3 minutes – and the mixture had already heated to luke-warm. I melted the butter in a double boiler (because I tend to scorch things) and then added the blender contents. I then kept whisking until the mixture thickened as directed. This may have saved some time with the grinding, otherwise not so much. Oh yeah, I added some cardamom, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.
Karen says
I just tried to make this and the taste of the egg/sugar/milk mixture was perfect. The poppy seeds though were super bitter. Any ideas how that can be addressed?
Tori Avey says
Hi Karen, it sounds like your poppy seeds may have been rancid, unfortunately. This can happen with older seeds. Best to buy fresh ones and start a new batch.
S Catherine Morales says
Thank u for sharing this. I substituted milt for oat milk, omitted the sugar and egg and used a bit of algae oil instead. not bad at all : } Thank u!!!
Carolyn says
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe. I’m curious, I haven’t yet tried to make it as we are currently in the process of reducing our sugar intake. If I were to reduce the amount and sugar and/or honey, are there any replacements needed to maintain the consistency?
Tori Avey says
Sorry Carolyn, I don’t have a lower sugar version of this filling. It would need to be tested, as the honey and sugar are part of what makes the thickened texture here. I don’t want to steer you wrong!