I made two kinds of hamantaschen for Purim this year: an epicurious recipe for "All-The-Seeds Hamantaschen" that I kept seeing all over the internet, and the "Apricot-Hazelnut-Brown Butter Hamantaschen" from Smitten Kitchen. I had no idea at the time I selected the recipes how different the resulting cookies would be,
The seed hamantaschen have a dough made with butter, sugar, cream cheese, egg, orange zest, flour, baking powder and salt. While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I made the seed filling by heating honey to 300 degrees; adding tahini and salt; and combining the liquid with raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. I portioned out the filling (which hardened quickly as it cooled) and formed each piece into a rough triangle shape.
I rolled out the dough to 3/8 of an inch, cut circles using a 3-inch diameter cutter, brushed the dough with egg wash, placed a triangle of filling on top of each circle; and folded up the sides of the dough to form the triangle cookie shape. I brushed the outside of the cookies with egg wash and sprinkled on more poppy seeds and sesame seeds before baking. I only got 17 cookies from each batch of dough and had a lot of filling left over.
I made the dough for the Smitten Kitchen hamantaschen in my stand mixer by combining browned butter, sugar, vanilla paste, eggs, salt, baking powder, and flour. I chilled the dough in the fridge before rolling it out. I rolled the dough to 1/8-inch thick and used a 3-inch diameter fluted cutter to cut the cookies; I got 32 cookies from a batch. I put a dollop of apricot jam in the center of each cookie, and then topped the jam with a hazelnut filling made in the food processor from ground hazelnuts, salt, sugar, cold browned butter, egg, and almond extract. When I folded up the sides of the dough to form the triangle shape, the apricot jam became completely hidden underneath the hazelnut filling.
As you can see in the photo above, the two types of hamantaschen were quite distinct. I used a 3-inch cookie cutter for both varieties, and yet the seed hamantashen ended up much larger. The dough for the seed hamantaschen was thick and a bit bready, which I didn't like. The filling was like a caramel candy filled with seeds; it was difficult to make out each of the four different seeds in the filling. In most of the cookies, the seed filling was easy to bite into, but in a few cookies the filling was brittle and a bit challenging to eat. I thought the flavor of the filling was quite good and an interesting change of pace. But overall, I didn't love the seed hamantaschen because I did not like the cookie dough.
By contrast, the cookie dough portion of the Smitten Kitchen hamantaschen was perfection. The cookie was thin, firm, and buttery. It would have been delicious all on its own. But with the addition of the apricot jam and the insanely good hazelnut filling, the cookie was freakin' delicious. I love the flavor of sweetened hazelnuts. There is nothing I can criticize about the Smitten Kitchen hamantaschen; they were definitely the best hamantaschen I've ever made or tasted. It did occur to me that raspberry jam would also be an excellent pairing with the hazelnut filling, but I have no complaints about the apricot.
I feel a little wistful thinking about these cookies now -- not only because I would really love to eat some more hazelnut-apricot hamantaschen, but also because these were the last baked goods I took to the office before I started working from home a few weeks ago. In the age of social distancing, my baked goods distribution system has changed a bit -- but I'm grateful that I have been able to keep baking and sharing what I make with others.
Recipes: "All-The-Seeds Hamantaschen" from epicurious.com; "Apricot-Hazelnut-Brown Butter Hamantaschen" from Smitten Kitchen.
Previous Posts:
The seed hamantaschen have a dough made with butter, sugar, cream cheese, egg, orange zest, flour, baking powder and salt. While the dough was chilling in the fridge, I made the seed filling by heating honey to 300 degrees; adding tahini and salt; and combining the liquid with raw pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. I portioned out the filling (which hardened quickly as it cooled) and formed each piece into a rough triangle shape.
I rolled out the dough to 3/8 of an inch, cut circles using a 3-inch diameter cutter, brushed the dough with egg wash, placed a triangle of filling on top of each circle; and folded up the sides of the dough to form the triangle cookie shape. I brushed the outside of the cookies with egg wash and sprinkled on more poppy seeds and sesame seeds before baking. I only got 17 cookies from each batch of dough and had a lot of filling left over.
As you can see in the photo above, the two types of hamantaschen were quite distinct. I used a 3-inch cookie cutter for both varieties, and yet the seed hamantashen ended up much larger. The dough for the seed hamantaschen was thick and a bit bready, which I didn't like. The filling was like a caramel candy filled with seeds; it was difficult to make out each of the four different seeds in the filling. In most of the cookies, the seed filling was easy to bite into, but in a few cookies the filling was brittle and a bit challenging to eat. I thought the flavor of the filling was quite good and an interesting change of pace. But overall, I didn't love the seed hamantaschen because I did not like the cookie dough.
By contrast, the cookie dough portion of the Smitten Kitchen hamantaschen was perfection. The cookie was thin, firm, and buttery. It would have been delicious all on its own. But with the addition of the apricot jam and the insanely good hazelnut filling, the cookie was freakin' delicious. I love the flavor of sweetened hazelnuts. There is nothing I can criticize about the Smitten Kitchen hamantaschen; they were definitely the best hamantaschen I've ever made or tasted. It did occur to me that raspberry jam would also be an excellent pairing with the hazelnut filling, but I have no complaints about the apricot.
I feel a little wistful thinking about these cookies now -- not only because I would really love to eat some more hazelnut-apricot hamantaschen, but also because these were the last baked goods I took to the office before I started working from home a few weeks ago. In the age of social distancing, my baked goods distribution system has changed a bit -- but I'm grateful that I have been able to keep baking and sharing what I make with others.
Recipes: "All-The-Seeds Hamantaschen" from epicurious.com; "Apricot-Hazelnut-Brown Butter Hamantaschen" from Smitten Kitchen.
Previous Posts:
- "Cookies Beyond My Sweetest Dreams: Hamantaschen," March 11, 2015.
- "Telly Monster Would Approve: Hamantaschen," March 7, 2012.
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