The brown sugar crust in this easy hamantaschen recipe is crisp outside and tender inside. The fruity filling makes them deliciously moreish.
It’s almost Purim again! This (minor) Jewish festival is a rowdy celebration of the events in the Biblical Book of Esther, and is one of a number of such festivals best summed up by, “they tried to killed us but failed! Now, let’s eat!”
As well as feasting and drunken revelry, plus giving charity to the poor, it’s traditional to wear fancy dress. My daughter Kipper is very excited this year to be an astronaut. I’m still working on my own costume…
Traditional Purim pastries
Like many other Jewish festivals, Purim has its own special foods, including hamantaschen. These are triangular cakes or pastries, (usually) with a sweet filling. Traditionally the filling is made with poppy seeds, but in recent years all sorts of fillings have appeared, made with dried or fresh fruit, jams and preserves, or even chocolate.
Hamantaschen – triangular cookies
The baddie in the Purim story is Haman, who tried to kill all the Jews – boo! hiss!
The triangular shape of the hamentaschen is supposed to represent either his ears, or possibly his hat, depending on who you ask. In Israel, these seasonal delicacies are called “oznei Haman“, meaning “Haman’s ears”.
They do look quite like a tricorn hat though.
Easy Hamantaschen recipe
So, now that the RE lesson is over with, let’s get on with the cooking. I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but my recipe, below, makes some of the most delicious hamantaschen I’ve ever tasted.
The brown sugar crust is crisp on the outside, tender within, with a delicious caramelly brown sugar flavour. The fruity jam filling is not overpowering, and the whole thing is a world away from those ubiquitous dry crumbly hamantaschen that do the rounds every year.
Quick and easy hamantaschen recipe
These brown sugar hamantaschen were quick and easy to make. I may well make these biscuits again in ‘year round’ shapes, well before next Purim.
Hamantaschen ingredients
This easy hamantaschen recipe comes together from standard baking ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. To make a batch of these delicious Purim pastries you will need:
- Plain flour – also known as all-purpose flour
- Brown sugar – I used light muscovado sugar but any soft light brown sugar will do
- Butter or dairy-free margarine/spread
- Egg
- Fruity jam for the filling – choose your favourite flavour!
Hamantaschen dough – By hand or machine?
I made the dough for this easy hamantaschen recipe in my Kenwood mixer
. However I don’t think it would be difficult to do by hand, as long as the butter or margarine was at room temperature before you started. Just make sure to cream the butter and sugar really well and your hamantaschen should turn out just fine!
Easy hamantaschen recipe – make double!
This easy hamantaschen recipe makes 16 delicious brown sugar hamantaschen. That’s a perfect amount if you have a small family like mine, and don’t want dozens of cookies!
However, if you’re making hamantaschen for a crowd, or planning to pack these into mishloach manot – Purim gifts – then you can easily double or even triple the recipe. Simply click on 2x or 3x at the top of the ingredients list on the recipe card below.
Happy baking and have a great Purim!
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📖 Recipe
Brown sugar hamantaschen
Ingredients
- 100 g butter or margarine
- 125 g light muscovado sugar
- 200 g plain flour + a little extra
- 1 egg, beaten
- 5-6 tablespoon jam – your choice of flavour (I used raspberry and apricot)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
- Add a third of the flour, followed by a third of the beaten egg and mix. Continue adding the flour and egg in thirds until it is all incorporated. Mix to thoroughly combine.
- Turn out the mixture onto a floured surface and gently knead in a little extra flour to give a soft, pliable, but not sticky dough. (You may not need much extra flour.)
- Roll out the dough to 5-6 mm (just less than ¼ inch) thickness. Using an 8 cm (3 inch) cutter, cut out circles of the dough. Place a teaspoon of jam in the centre of each and fold up and pinch the sides to create a triangle around the filling.
- Put the hamantaschen on a non-stick baking sheet and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- The jam filling will be dangerously hot when these come out of the oven. Wait for a minute or two before transferring them to cooling racks, and allow to cool completely before eating.
Nutrition
More delicious hamantaschen recipes
If you’re after more delicious hamantaschen recipes, take a look at these easy, fruity Eccles cake hamantaschen, these classic yeasted poppyseed hamantaschen buns, or these wonderfully savoury pizza hamantaschen.
You may also like to check out my guide to making the best hamantaschen. It includes over 20 different recipes from around the web.
Or you can browse all my Purim recipes here.
Laura
I just love recipes that have a history or story behind them and these look particularly delicious! Thanks so much for sharing them with the Biscuit Barrel!