Every time around the Jewish holiday of Purim, it is customary to make triangular shaped cookies called hamantaschen. The classic version of these cookies is a soft doughy outside and a filling which usually consists of jam or poppy seeds. In recent years, it seems people are starting to get super creative with these special cookies.

I always looked forward to these cookies when my mother-in-law made them. She has a recipe for the most amazing dough! It was passed down to her by her mother and she translated the recipe from Romanian into English for me. When I first got married, she spent an afternoon showing me how to make this fancy dough. This dough uses A LOT of eggs and is a labour of love but it is well worth it!

This year I decided to make the classic (and my ultimate fav) with raspberry jam filling and then I decided to get creative with the rest. I added some rose chai tea to my raspberry filling and drizzled them with white candy melts and sprinkled crushed edible rose petals on top- so that’s how I came up with the Raspberry Rose Chai flavour. Matcha is all the rage these days and while I’m not a huge tea lover, I decided to experiment and make Vanilla Matcha Black Sesame flavoured hamantaschen. And lastly, I decided to bake a brownie inside the hamantaschen… this idea wasn’t truly original but it looked damn good and then I drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with cocoa powder to make it super pretty.

Now, I am going to share the coveted, secret family dough with you. I have cut the original recipe in half as it makes soooooo many cookies, I could never get through a full batch. Once you have this baseline dough recipe- you can get creative! Below I will share the dough recipe and how I tweaked it for all of this years’ flavours.

This dough is worth gossiping about for generations!

HAPPY PURIM! CHAG SAMEACH!

Hamantaschen Dough

Yield: 75 cookies (approx.)

INGREDIENTS:
7 egg yolks
3 full eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 pkg vanilla sugar
1 tbsp whiskey
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
3 1/2 cups flour + 2-3 more cups for rolling
Store-bought jam filling

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Dough will be very moist and sticky. Place in the fridge overnight.
2. On a smooth, heavily floured surface, take a large chunk of the dough and sprinkle with a generous amount of flour. Combine into dough until you get the right consistency which will allow you to roll it out and not stick to the surface. (Unfortunately this step requires you to use your judgement as there is no set recipe).
3. Roll out over the floured surface. Using the top of a cup, cut out circles with the dough.
4. Fill your dough with your choice of jam filling- only use a tsp or it will overflow.
5. Pinch up the edges into 3 corners.
6. Brush with egg wash (optional) and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes- until dough is set and slightly golden. Enjoy!

Raspberry Rose Chai Hamantaschen

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup raspberry jam, warmed
3 tsp rose chai tea, cooled
Hamantaschen dough
1/4 cup white candy melts
1 tbsp of crushed edible rose petals

DIRECTIONS:
1. Make a cup of rose chai tea, let cool, set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the warm jam and 3 tsp of the rose chai tea.
3. Make hamantaschen as directed above.
4. Once cookies are cooled, melt white candy melts in the microwave for 1 minute. Drizzle over the hamantaschen.
5. Sprinkle crushed edible rose petals over the wet candy melts. Set aside until candy melts harden. Enjoy!

Vanilla Matcha Black Sesame Hamantaschen

INGREDIENTS:
3 tbsp + 2 tsp vanilla matcha powder (David’s Tea)
Hamantaschen dough
1/4 cup white candy melts
Filling (Recipe adapted from @jewhungry):
1/2 cup roasted black sesame seeds
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. To make the filling, Lightly grind the black sesame seeds in a food processor until slightly crushed.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and honey over low heat, stirring until the honey dissolves into the milk. Then add the ground sesame seeds and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently. While it’s simmering, add the vanilla.
3. Once the mixture has thickened considerably, stir in the butter until it melts, cooking it for another minute or so.
4. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. You can make this a day ahead, when you first make the dough, and cover and store in the fridge.
5. Mix in 3 tbsp of matcha powder into a large handful of your dough. Using your hands, knead the matcha into the dough until combined. Make hamantaschen as directed above.
6. Once cookies are cooled, melt white candy melts in the microwave for 1 minute. Mix in 2 tsp of the matcha powder. Drizzle over the hamantaschen. Set aside until candy melts harden. Enjoy!

Chocolate Brownie Hamantaschen

INGREDIENTS:
1 box brownie mix
Hamantaschen dough
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS:
1. Assemble brownie mix as indicated on the box. Place the brownie mix in the fridge for a few hours.
2. Assemble the hamantaschen as directed above. Make sure you only use a small tsp of brownie mix, as it will expand in the oven.
3. Once cooled, microwave the semi sweet chocolate chips, 30 sec at a time, stirring between, until melted.
4. Drizzle over hamantaschen and sprinkle with cocoa powder. Enjoy!