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The hamantaschen I grew up with probably aren’t the cookie-based ones you find in a deli case or kosher bakery around Purim. In my family, we feasted on yeasted hamantaschen — puffy and bready, filled with sweet poppyseeds and walnuts, warmed slightly in the microwave and served with a cup of black tea or coffee.
Hamantaschen have a reputation for being dry and bland. But I’ve been on a lifelong mission to share my love and excitement for Purim’s sweet treat. Imagine if a challah and a poppy seed hamantaschen had a baby… yeasted hamantaschen would be the result. Heartier and less sweet than the cookie variety, they bridge the gap between cookie and bread and are perfect for a holiday breakfast.
Yeasted hamantaschen are thought to be a tradition of the Soviet Union. According to the late Jewish food historian Gil Marks, the original hamantaschen were indeed made using a sweet yeasted dough, but smaller, cookie-based versions won favor because they were easier to work with.
My great-grandmother Freda was born in the former Soviet Union (now Ukraine) and came to Canada with nearly nothing, except for her love of cooking and feeding everyone around her. It’s no surprise that her hamantaschen were sent across Canada and into the U.S. for her family to enjoy, and she passed down those recipes to my grandmother Eva.
While I often try to modernize classic dishes, some hold such powerful memories and feelings that I want to reconnect with them and go back to my grandmother’s kitchen.
The dough of yeasted hamantaschen is considerably more difficult to work with than its cookie-dough partner. If you’ve ever stressed about getting your hamantaschen to maintain a shape, this may not be the recipe for you. Yeasted dough often has a mind of its own, shapeshifting in the oven. To me, though, the rustic, haimish appearance of the yeasted hamantaschen is part of the charm. It reminds me of my grandmother’s stiff fingers covered in jewelry, kneading, rolling, folding and pinching dozens of hamantaschen for the family, where even the funkiest-shaped outcomes were made with love.
While my grandmother Eva was an avid cook, she also knew when to take shortcuts, “doctoring up” store-bought ingredients so her guests were none the wiser. One ingredient was poppy seed filling. She’d use a canned variety (often Solo brand, which she’d pick up from her local Eastern European grocer) and add walnuts, vanilla, citrus zest and a bissel or bit of salt to balance the sweetness. It was her way of adapting her mother’s recipes to the newfound comforts of living in North America.
While I do like to take the hard route, making 90% of my dishes from scratch, I also believe in the power of the shortcut, especially if it makes a dish more accessible. As a parent, I don’t always have the foresight to make and prepare my own poppy seed filling, so I like to keep a stash of Solo poppy seed filling cans in the cupboard. On the occasions when I use them, I miss my grandmother the most.
Yeasted Poppy Seed Hamantaschen
Makes: 14 to 16 hamantaschen
Total time: 2 hours
Dough:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 gram package instant yeast
- 3 Tbs. sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup warm whole milk
- 3 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 tsp. orange zest
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
Filling:
- ½ cup canned poppyseed filling
- 3 Tbs. finely chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ tsp. lemon zest
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
Egg wash:
- 1 large egg, whisked
In the base of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, instant yeast and sugar. Mix to combine.
Add the egg, warm milk, vegetable oil, orange zest, vanilla extract and salt. Mix on low for 6 to 8 minutes, until a smooth dough forms.
Transfer to an oiled bowl, and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for an hour, until puffy — it will not fully double in size, but should be noticeably larger.
Meanwhile, combine the poppy seed filling, walnuts, vanilla, lemon zest and salt in a medium bowl.
Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
Once the dough has risen, roll it into a ¼-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter. Re-roll dough scraps until you have no more dough. You should end up with 12 to 14 circles.
Use a rolling pin to reshape the dough as needed, as it might shrink or get misshapen.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with a pastry brush.
Place 1 tsp. of filling in the center of each circle. Brush the egg around the dough, and fold into a triangle, pinching the edges to seal. Transfer to the lined baking trays, with 2 inches between each hamantaschen. Cover lightly with plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the hamantaschen for 11-13 minutes, or until just golden. Let cool for five minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.