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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. Here is my favorite recipe for poppy seed filling.
To make this filling pareve (dairy free), I’ve recommended some specific substitutes below. I really like this filling better dairy, but you can get a descent pareve result using the recommended substitutions.
MY OTHER RECIPESNeed a delicious and foolproof hamantaschen dough recipe? For my Dairy Free Hamantaschen dough, click here. For my Buttery Hamantaschen dough, click here.
Note: I have improved this recipe since originally posting… I am always working to make my recipes the best that they can be. Enjoy!
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Mohn - Poppy Seed Filling for Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (8 oz. weighed) whole unground poppy seeds
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (see cooking instructions for pareve subs)
- 1 cup milk (see cooking instructions for pareve subs)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 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 at the end 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 pareve (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. For the butter sub, I don't like to use margarine very often, but in this case I'd recommend Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks. They have no hydrogenated fat, and in small amounts they make a passable substitute for butter. They do have salt, so I would recommend cutting the 1/4 tsp of salt in the recipe if using this product. If you are comfortable using unsalted margarine, feel free.
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!
Your recipe tastes great! It was by total accident that I found your website as I wasn’t searching for a poppy seed filling recipe. Years ago, I wanted to make Poppy Seed Strudel but used Solo poppy seed filling. It tasted horrible and I gave up. While I haven’t had my mother’s poppy seed strudel in probably 30 yrs, I can’t swear that yours tastes just like hers but it sure comes close. I’m not Jewish but have tried making Hamantaschen. The results weren’t very good–mostly because they kept opening up. Can’t wait to try your “folding” technique! But, for this time around I am using the poppy seed filing in another cookie which is very similar–Wiener Tascherl.
I just made the filling. It tastes yummy and has a good custardy consistency. I added a few drops of lemon extract and a few drops of St. Germain (elderflower liqueur and it got even better. Can’t wait to actually bake the homentashn with it. Thanks for the recipe!
Fabulous ideas!
Hi! I would like to know if the cookie freezes well as I would like to make them maybe a week in advance…Thanks 🙂
I made these with Tori Avey’s Hamentashen dough the last two years and my dad declares them “perfect,” what he’s been looking for since he was a kid.
This year I’m planning up a huge batch at the synagogue, breaking from the tradition of having only one filling. Can’t wait to wow people. I only wish it was easier to get pounds and pounds of poppy seeds like when my dad used to bring them home from the market.
I love this recipe, but have a question: how often do you encounter curdling when you make this? The first time I made the poppyseed filling, it came out perfect; the second time I saw slight signs of curdling…perhaps it’s inevitable in some cases? The filling was still totally edible and the cookies were still fantastic despite the curdling (and it really was just on the bottom of the pan where I experienced it in small amounts..nothing obvious). Anyway, thanks again for the fantastic recipe.
Hi Michelle, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! To avoid curdling in this recipe, be sure that you slowly add the eggs as you whisk them in and keep an eye on the heat to make sure it’s not too hot. Hope this helps!
If a custard looks like it is thinking about curdleing , take it off the heat and add an ice cube. Whisk it like mad and it should bring it back.
My grandmother used to make the most amazing poppy seed filling, and as a child I used to hide under the kitchen table while she made pastries filled with poppy seed filling, and I would steal it by the spoon when she would turn around to put the pastries into the fryer. So, my grandmother said that this filling came out better than hers. I think the key here is to measure the poppy seeds once you ground them in the processor. I noticed that once they were crushed, they fell in volume and the filling was too runny. This will be my go to recipe for puppy seed filling from now one. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us.
Pretty good, but my favorite is still the poppyseed filling from Nira Sheuer ‘s “Cakes for all seasons”, עוגות לכל עת, the baking “bible” of kibbutz women in the 80’s. I still use it! Simple: heat 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tbs honey,1/4 cup of water until the sugar dissolves, add 1 cup of ground poppyseed, boil for a minute or so while stirring, remove from heat, add 1/4 cup raisins, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1 tbs grated lemon rind. Mix well, let stand until cool. I love the buttery cookie recipe and prefer it over the recipe in the above mentioned book. Made several batches both kinds and with Nutella, the most popular one!!
The John filling is an epic failure! Four days in refrigerator and it still runny. I threw it away! No Purim delight for me this year! 🙁
Holly, I’m sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. If it was runny before placing it in the refrigerator, than you likely didn’t cook the tempered egg mixture long enough. You need to cook it until the texture is quite thick before stirring in the seeds.
Delicious! I’ll never go back to store-bought. I also noticed that it did not coat the spoon, and it never got as thick as I expected – but it stayed cohesive, and baked up perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
Going to the market. Have been making breads only for a year.
I have never made poppy seed filling before. I ground the seeds in a coffee grinder repeatedly. I had two problems. The first problem was that I couldn’t decide if the mixture was thick enough. It did turn yellow and then began to get grainy but it never really coated the spoon. The second problem was that after I added the poppy seeds I did the taste test and the mixture tasted much too much like poppy seed flour. Maybe it is not supposed to be sweet but it did not have a good flavor to me. So I tried baking one of the cookies, but the flavor did not improve. I have had poppy seed filling before but it was the canned variety. Am I just expecting the wrong thing from this recipe? Thank you. The cookies were amazing and I just filled them with Nutella.
This is fantastic!
By necessity, I had to use the pareve substitutions, as suggested. It seemed to be missing a little something, so I added a teaspoon of vanilla and half a teaspoon of orange liqueur. Those additions really put it over the top. I think maybe the vanilla makes up for the missing creaminess from not using real milk.
Great suggestions David, happy you liked it!
I made this and thought it was fine until I tried another recipe elsewhere that had an amazing recipe. Sorry! But the recipe for the lekvar on this site was wonderful!
But Miriam, you aren’t sharing the recipe/web link with us? We might like to try it too. Any of us willing to admit so would say we don’t corner the market on knowledge and skill. Sharing recipes and information helps us all learn. I haven’t tried this filling yet, as what I’m reading has warned me that I’d better have the right type of grinder to pulverize the poppy seeds. Need to trek over to the natural foods store where I suspect I’ll be able to find poppy seeds in bulk, else will have to have hubby pick them up from the farmer’s market that’s on his way to New Jersey (we’re in Pennsylvania) where he works once a week.
If I use the poppyseed filling, do I cook it with the hammentashen? Or do I add the filling when they are halfway cooked?
Follow the dough recipe, it should tell you when to put the filling in– before it is shaped and baked.
I’ve tried numerous poppy seed fillings over the years, but yours is the best. You basically start with a crème anglaise base, more or less, using whole eggs instead of egg yolks. An instant read thermometer helps here to avoid curdling the mixture: don’t heat it over 170°F. Incidently, you don’t say when to add the salt. I assume you add it along with the milk, sugar & honey.
So glad you like it Aaron. I updated the recipe with salt instructions.
It is very possible! i will try again, but not for a few days as I have several cakes to do in the next few days. I loved flavors and the dough I didn’t use can be rolled out as butter cookies so there is not waste. Thanks for the encouragement!
Eileen — the exact same thing happened to me last year. I believe it was because I did not use the correct amount of flour.
sigh, another epic failure. The flavor was there but the dough just spread out flat. Any ideas on what went wrong?
Eileen, did you follow the recipe and instructions word-for-word exactly as written? Literally hundreds of people have used my hamantaschen recipes successfully, so there must be something in your process that is not working– unfortunately I can’t pinpoint it if I’m not there with you. Did you fold them the way I suggested? Which filling recipe did you use? I’d love to help you troubleshoot this.
What do you think of using coconut oil in place of butter, or spectrum shortening in place of butter and coconut milk in place of the milk for a parev version?
Coconut milk would be fine as a milk sub. I would use Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks, or another butter substitute, rather than shortening. Enjoy!
I have tried Hamantaschen twice. The first attempt was a disaster, The second less so. I am going to give your recipe a go as I would like to give them to a friend for Purim. I was not raised Jewish but grew up around the culture ( a number of neighbors) and have recently discovered my maternal grandmother’s Jewish roots.. I am going to cross my fingers and hope the ancestors are smiling as I go for a third attempt.
Good luck Eileen! You can do this. Let me know if you run into any trouble along the way 🙂
Thank you for this delicious ideas! Saved my sweet dessert tonight ! I used your basic recipe and modified the ingredients. I’m on a high carb low fat vegan lifestyle and used what was at home: ground poppy seeds, coconut/rice milk, organic cane sugar, organic corn starch. I first made a paste with the corn starch + a spoon full of water, added coconut-rice milk, then poppy seeds and loads of sugar. -> DELICIOUS filling for my glutenous rice balls 🙂 side note: even though vegan, this is not low fat, 100g poppy seeds weigh in with 41g of fat lol
The one in the recipe photo appears to have an open top and a square base with a drawer for collecting the ground up seeds. I’ve used a grinder similar to the one you are suggesting and it didn’t do much. How long does it take to run a batch through to get them ground enough to get good results?
30-40 seconds per batch, but I do it in small batches– putting in too many seeds at once can be problematic. The actual grinder I use is a Cuisinart, but it doesn’t get great reviews which is why I suggested the other one (which runs in a similar way but has better reviews overall). Here is the Cuisinart if you’re interested, I only use it for grinding spices since we’re not big coffee drinkers and it’s always done the trick for us: https://theshiksa.com/market/kitchenware/kitchen-tools-and-more/cuisinart-grind-central-coffee-grinder/
This is the type of poppyseed grinder I use. It is made especially for grinding poppyseed. I bought mine from a store in Poland.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weston-Manual-Tin-Coated-Poppy-Seed-Grinder-/191274063572?pt=Kitchen_Tools_Gadgets&hash=item2c88d296d4
Robb, thanks. I bought a special-purpose poppyseed grinder myself. It turns them into paste and works like a charm. If anyone buys one, please make sure you pay attention to the directions for putting the mechanism together or it will not work right.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005JET7QU/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item
Bob, you bought just the right thing. The grinding mechanism is exactly like the one I bought. The suction base on yours wasn’t available when I bought mine. These grinders make the perfect texture for any recipe calling for “ground poppyseed”. Cheers!
I’ve had trouble grinding poppy seeds in a coffee grinder in the past: they just seem to whirl around and never get pulverized. I’m curious what brand model coffee grinder you happened to use. Or, if you don’t want to say, was it a burr grinder or does it grind with a blade (like a blender).
Hi Bob, I use a blade grinder similar to this one: https://theshiksa.com/market/kitchenware/kitchen-tools-and-more/krups-coffee-and-spice-grinder/ It always does the trick. 🙂
hey Tori — as a fellow shiksa, I love your Web site. Silly me — I tried to follow your hamantaschen recipe but I put 1-1/4 cups of flour instead of 2-1/4 cups! The cookies taste fine but because of the butter-flour ratio, they did not retain their triangular shape at all. Oh well! There’s always next year. But I do have a question of this mohn recipe: I cut the recipe in half and it still made A LOT. I have quite a bit leftover and am wondering if you know of any recipes that use mohn? Otherwise, I will have to throw it away. I am not going to try making hamantschens again until next Purim. By the way, I love the taste of the mohn on the cookies. It reminded a little of halva.
Sorry, I meant “about this mohn recipe”
Hi Becky– you can use the leftover to fill any kind of pastry or cookie, not just hamantaschen. You could also try mixing into pancake or waffle batter for a breakfast treat!
I live in Israel, but a million years ago did a brief stint at a car wash in Portland. One day a fancy car pulls in, and I glance at the license plates. “Shiksa”. I do a double take and turn to the blond driving the car. Shiksa?, says I? She told me her husband chose the plates, and she hates it.
Never liked my poppy filling, so giving yours a try. Thanks.
Baking right now, muhn and apricot. Everything looks and smells great. If your dough opens up you can just brush a little egg wash around each circle of dough before dropping lump of filling in center. Then pinch each seam closed with a series of fast small pinches. Thanks for your clear recipes!
I shall do. 🙂 And again, thanks so much! I know these are gonna taste awesome and my family will love them.
Thank you! 🙂 I made it and I’ve taste tested it once or twice… or many times, haha. Much better than what I used out of a can last year. Just one problem, it doesn’t seem to be thickening like it should – and I’ve run out of poppy seeds! I didn’t grind them, is that why? And will it be okay?
Hi Zandra, try cooking the filling a little longer to reduce the liquid. If it still doesn’t seem to be thickening, add 1/2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water, stir into the filling and cook till it thickens to desired texture. Repeat as needed. Or you can do what another reader did and stir in flour to the mixture as it cooks on the stovetop. Remember it will continue to thicken as it cools.
And yes, it’s because you didn’t grind the poppy seeds. Grinding them makes them more powdery which helps them to soak up the liquid and thicken.
Another traditional thickener for mohn is cake crumb – I use ground up Madelines left over night.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I have a question, though when it says “cool in fridge for 4-5 days”, is that needed before use in cooking or is that just how long it keeps? Because I’ve got my dough chilling in the fridge right now and I was planning on baking these tonight!
Hi Zandra, you can use it once it’s at room temperature, 4-5 days is just an estimate for how long it will last. Enjoy!
My Husband is Jewish and I love your website. While we’re using an old family recipe from his family for the dough, we’re always wanting to use different fillings. This year we’re going to use a lovely cherry compote and he wants to do the Mohn/poppyseed filling. But he’s egg intolerant (even just the whites are not good for him, or anyone else, sadly), and I was just wondering what, if anything, you may have heard of for substituting eggs in this? We use Chia seed soaked in water for egg replacement in baked items, but that doesn’t cook well in a custard like preparation.
Hi Caradwen, other than chia/flax I wouldn’t be sure what to recommend here. Perhaps a little vanilla pudding mix? Sorry I’m not much help here!
What can I use instead of coffee grinder? I don’t have one
Hi Susanna, you can try using a blender, that might work.
Hello! I made the muhn filling and it tastes good, but not like Grandma’s. I added a handful of raisins and some lemon zest, mixed them in and it is closer. Also, we didn’t do the side over side thing like you show with the dough but instead quickly squeeze the two sides together and leave just a little opening on top so you can see what filling you are getting. :). Also we paint the whole outside with egg wash so they come out shiny and brown.
Hi Lauren, glad you enjoyed the filling and found a way to modify it to be more like your Grandma’s recipe. Grandma’s way is always the best way. 🙂 I fold the hamantachen this way to help them stay together, since many people have trouble with the cookies separating in the oven folding them the way you described. You can still see the filling, just not as much as you would folding it another way. However, you should use whatever method works for you!
I loved this recipe and I am sharing it with a link back to go with my healthy hamentashen on my blog here. Thanks
Thanks for starting your knowledge with us. Question: can I place additional whole poppy seeds to the top of the filling just prior to baking? I think it would make a nice texture contrasts, that and I love poppy seeds.
Hi Deborah, I don’t see why not as long as it’s just a sprinkling… adding too many might make the top of the filling dry out.
My daughter-in-law is Romanian and they use poppy seeds a lot in their sweet breads. I was wondering, do I have to grind the seeds? What if I didn’t? Thanks…I’ll make these later today.
Hi Robs, I highly recommend grinding the seeds. It improves both the texture and the flavor of the filling. Enjoy!
No substitutions made, but I ended up adding a little flour and putting it back on the stove to thicken and it instantly solved the problem. Now I need a recipe for what to do with all the leftover filling!
Great Netalia! So glad you found a solution. Stir the extra filling into your favorite muffin or quick bread/cake batter, or use it as a filling for strudel. There are many possibilities. Enjoy!
Followed this recipe exactly and filling is extremely runny at room temperature 🙁 How can I correct?
Add more of the ground seeds till it has thickened to the consistency you like. Did you make any subs? Many readers have written me to say they love this recipe, so I’d like to help you troubleshoot and find out why the filling turned out so runny. Refrigeration should help, too.
You can also make milk from the poppy seeds…just soak the seeds with some hot water for at least 20 minutes then put them all into a blender, buzz for about 2 minutes then strain. Repeat this process at least one more time. You will get some delicious poppy seed milk.
Thanks so much for the details on poppy seed filling. I love mohn filling, but when I asked my mom how to make it, she said “You go to Kaplan’s and buy it.” Unfortunately, I live in a city without a Jewish bakery or deli, so I’ll be making it myself when my sons’s Hebrew school class comes to our house next week for hamentaschen baking.
Hi. The reCipe looks great and I’m so excited to try it. Does it have to stay in the fridge for 5 days before I mke the hamentashen or it’s good for 4-5 days?
Good for 4-5 days. You can use it as soon as it’s chilled for filling.
I am going to go ahead and add the salt into the sugar/milk mixture, but you might want to add that instruction for the benefit of others.
I have frozen Poppyseed filling with no problem.
I was born in Israel during Purim, but never learned to bake my own “oznei haman” (hamman’s ears…) Cannot wait to try and feed my Arkansas friends this delight.
Thanks for the recipe. You start with a 1 and 1/2 poppys and then add (8 oz). In cooking lingo 8 oz IS a cup. Should I use the 8 oz or a measuring cup and a half???
Ariela
Where can I buy 1 can of poppy seed filling in orange co, california.
Hi! About how many cookies does the 2 cups of filling make? I’d like to make a variety, so I’m wondering if the recipe will half well or if the filling can be frozen for future use. . .
Hi Tori
Your website is a godsend being married to an Israeli living in Sydney it is difficult to find recipes for food he ate when growing up on the Kibbutz. Especially food made to celebrate a holiday.
We love your poppy seed filling for Hamantaschen but also use it to flavour left over pastry of any shape or size. Can you please advise if you can successfully freeze leftover poppyseed filling?
Look forward to your reply and thank you again for your wonderful recipes – Cheese Borekas is also another one of our favs!
Hi Jodie! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the site. I’ve never frozen the poppyseed filling, so I can’t help you there… wish I could! If you try it and it works out, can you please report back and let us know? Thank you!
I made Mohn and Lekvar – both were delicious. I used extra Mohn in a strudel like my gramma used to make.
I would love to have this strudel recipe to use up the mohn I have. Seems to be ok still, and don’t want to throw it out but I’m done with hamentaschen for this year.
They came out great. So pretty and the filling didn’t overflow.
They are just perfect and delicious!
Any ideas for an egg substitute? I have egg replacer and flax seeds…
Hi,
My husband is Jewish and I planning to bake this cookies tomorrow.
At what time I should add the honey?
Thanks and I really like your blog. Congrats!
Hi Pilar! So happy you’re going to try this one, it’s super yummy. Add the honey at the same time you add the sugar and milk. I’ve corrected the instructions in the recipe. Good luck! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
…and chag sameach, I always enjoy your recipes 😉
Addi
Thanks Addi! 🙂
hi, after reading your blog and tasty recipe I came across this explanation for why poppy seeds are eaten and I wanted to share it with you… “Why eat poppy seeds for Purim? This tradition honors Queen Esther. When she moved into the king’s palace, in order to avoid eating non-kosher food, she ate only seeds and legumes. In other words, she became a vegetarian. This gave rise to the custom of including poppy seeds in Purim sweets and of making use of beans and chickpeas in Purim menus.” (from Jpost)
Last I checked I wasn’t a goy, and I adore both apricot and raspberry filling. I also like poppy seed filing, although I’m less likely to use it, being a stressed out college student.
My typical hamentaschen fillings are nutella, seedless raspberry jam, and apricot jam, and I often put the nutella and raspberry jam in the same cookie. It’s truly divine, and the jam provides moisture that is lacking with just nutella. Any time you’re using nutella you can also mix in some chocolate chips, and that mixture is, as far as I’m concerned, the holy grail of chocolate hamentaschen. I suspect the chocolate cream spread found all over Israel would also be good in the same places nutella is, but it’s harder to find, and probably only worth the extra trouble for someone who doesn’t like hazelnut.
I think that hamentaschen filling is essentially whatever the baker feels like at the moment. That’s certainly how I do it. 🙂
Celesul– agreed! Great idea to combine the Nutella and jam. I’m mixing in some chocolate chips next time! 🙂
Hi Stella, that’s a tough one. Have you tried Earth Balance Natural Shortening? The Earth Balance has saturated fat, but it’s non-hydrogenated as well as trans-fat free and cholesterol free. I wouldn’t recommend the other subs you suggested, only because they’ll dramatically change the texture of the cookie. The shortening won’t taste as good as butter, but it makes a healthier end product that is dairy-free. Use pastry flour for a lighter texture and increase the sugar a bit for more crispness. I’ll be releasing a hamantaschen recipe soon that is made with canola oil instead of butter or shortening, which might be right up your alley. Stay tuned! 🙂
For use in Hamantaschen, what can I use instead of shortening, butter or margarine? Can you recommend substitute without saturated fat or low fat? Can I use applesauce, yogourt, ricotta cheese or sour cream?
I am a goya who was given a book, “Jewish Cooking for Dummies.” The more things I tried the better I got and the more I learned about things right under my nose. Now I want to make Hamantashen with Poppy Seed filling. I tried dried fruit, jelly, peanut butter, prunes and raisins for fillings but the best I am told is poppy seeds. Friday when I go to a dance I am taking several dozen home made” hamantaschen with poppy seed filling for my friends to try. I squeeked by with some edible rugelach last Friday. No frowns. However, this is the true test, and although my gentile friends will not complain, my Jewish friends are liable to say, “this is not like my mother made.” Wish me luck!! “Oi vai”. I would much rather visit the dentist.
Hey Dawn! Jewish food is constantly evolving, every family has their own way of doing things. New food traditions are created all the time. For example, in yesterday’s blog I shared a Rabbi’s recipe for a cream cheese and chocolate Hamantaschen filling… it’s certainly not traditional, but it’s really tasty! When it comes to cooking, follow your heart and your tastebuds; you can never go wrong. 😉
On a side note, I was just told that only goyem put apricot or raspberry filling in their rugalach. True? I was crushed…
p.s. LOVE your blog. Not Jewish, nor am I married to one, but I love the food culture, as well as all my fab Jewish friends. Also, just learned to play mah jongg!!
Hey Pearl! You would have to substitute the butter and also use a non-dairy milk. I’ve provided some substitution ideas above. Good luck!
If I substitute the milk with either soy milk or rice milk will this still be considered dairy?