I make mine with a yeast dough - usually left over challah the Friday before Purim. They come out like a sweet bun STUFFED with mon. We go gaga over them. This's last years batch. Haven't made any yet this year :(

AM, L2C46,
You just solved a long-standing mystery for me. My grandfather used to make these. But he never wrote down any recipes. I never knew what to call them to even look up a recipe. Thank you! I don't remember the dough being yeast-based, so I'm guessing the dough recipe is more like AM's, but it was the poppy seed filling I loved!

L2C46, Do you make your own filling? What's in it? I have a bag of poppy seeds in the pantry.

Looks great, L2C46! I've never had yeast ones.

We use this one, AM, from when way back when Jodie was in nursery school. The kids all loved it. We filled it with brownie mix, too, really good! It's been a long time since we've made them!

Hamentashen
(from Miss Irene at Nursery School/Jodie's)

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter softened
1 egg
2 tablespoon milk or water
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

prune, poppy seed, or apricot, strawberry, raspberry preserves or chocolate chips.

In mixer bowl, beat together sugar and butter until it's light and fluffy. Add egg, milk or water, vanilla and beat well. Combine flour and baking powder and stir into creamed mixture. If dough feels sticky, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with a floured 3 inch round cookie cutter. Top each round with about 1/2 teaspoon of filling. Shape into triangles by lifting up edges and pinching dough together to make 3 corners. Leave center open and fold back edges slightly to expose fillings. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven on a well-greased cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until the tips are golden. Cool on wire rack.

NOTES: Can be doubled.

I never made them. Always bought them from a very good Jewish bakery near where I lived. My favorites were the prune, followed closely by poppy seed. I never considered making them at home. Now you've got me thinking about it.

Jim

The only 'non-standard' change I make is to use brownie batter for a chocolate filling - when my kids were little they didn't like the standard fruit or poppy seed. I tried chocolate chips and that was a disaster.

Thanks for the kick in the pants AM, I need to make some. Aren't you a bit busy right now?

We love brownie batter too as a filling! And if they're not parve, I'll mix the brownie batter with a dollop of cheesechake filling also - so good. Nutella works nicely too.

I am busy right now, but I'm giving a hamantaschen baking class for the Hadassah group tomorrow morning. (I have GOT to stop saying "yes" to people). Good news is I got a 96 on my organic chem test!

AM

Poppy Seed Filling:
2 C. poppy seeds
1 C. milk
3/4 C. honey
1 t. lemon peel
1/2 C. raisins

The original recipe calls for grinding the poppy seed. I have never done that ;-)

Grind the poppy seeds; combine with the milk and honey. Cook over low heat until thickened. Add 1 teaspoon lemon peel and 1/2 cup raisins. Cool. (you can also buy it in a can at the store)

Thanks L2C46,
My mom always had the can of Solo around. I've used that often, but since I had seeds around, I thought I'd try making the filling.

Ann

I don't know what you mean by "non-standard," but perhaps (1) the almond flavoring in the dough and (2) our favorite filling -- almond -- in this, our favorite recipe, will qualify. It's the cookie dough kind, not the yeast kind. I like to make them pretty small, and they come out pretty, too. I almost always make them with my friend.

Here is a story about a very "non-standard" recipe that came out of our annual hamentaschen project. Several years ago, a couple of our kidz were helping us. Her son looked at the poppyseed filling (in the Solo can, of course) and said it looked like caviar. First we all said "ECHHHH...." and then we all had the same idea. What about hamentaschen with a non-sweet, pie crust type dough with a sour cream and caviar filling? And a fabulous appetizer for my son's then-upcoming bar mitzvah, which happened to be at Purim (the party was a masquerade), was born.

I don't have a recipe for that (the caterer came up with something), but I imagine you could figure it out easily.

Another year the store sold out of prune filling, and we tried to make our own in the food processor. COLOSSAL MESS everywhere! A real Lucy & Ethel moment.

Anyway, here is the recipe we use every year -- it really is a good one. Happy Purim!

Hamentaschen

¾ c sugar
½ c butter or margarine
1 egg
2 T milk
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
almond, poppy, prune, or apricot pastry filling (2 ½ - 3 12 oz. cans for a double recipe)

In mixer bowl, beat together sugar and butter till light & fluffy. Add egg, milk & vanilla; beat well. Combine flour & baking powder; stir into creamed mixture. Cover & refrigerate dough 1 hour. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter or an inverted juice glass. Top each with ½ t almond, poppy, prune, or apricot filling. Shape into triangles by lifting up edges & pinching dough together to make 3 corners. Leave center open.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet; bake in preheated 350 oven for 10-12 minutes (usually takes more). Remove from sheet; cool on rack.

Make 2 ½ - 3 dozen. (I always double recipe)

Oops - I mixed up my hamentaschen recipe with my Chanuka cookie recipe. No almond extract in the hamentaschen dough. But do try the almond filling -- it's wonderful.

Caviar hamantashen in a savory crust? Brilliant.

I hope I can remember that one in a few years when it's my March daughter's BM.

AM