It’s almost too on-the-nose that I tried to make hamantaschen cookies that look like carrara marble and actually made cookies that evoke cow hides. Is the universe trying to tell me something about my kitchen hopes and dreams? Don’t worry, I’ve chosen to not read into this at all.
Let me backtrack a bit. I have always struggled with hamantaschen, the triangular cookies eaten during the Jewish festival of Purim (think: Jewish Mardi Gras), because what I wish them to be — crisp, flavorful, buttery cookies that act like free-form tarts with fillings delicious enough that you’d happily eat them from a full-sized pie pan — aren’t really what bakery hamantaschen usually are, often heavier and less nuanced. Some of this is due to dietary limitations; many Jewish baked goods are made pareve, i.e. they neither contain dairy or meat, and therefore can be eaten at any kind of meal. But some of it is just taste and tradition; if you grew up with hearty hamantaschen, they might be your favorite.
It wasn’t until I had the hamantaschen at Breads Bakery for the first time that I realized I wasn’t alone in what I consider the ideal hamantaschen — perfect cookies, brilliant fillings. Over the last several years, I’ve mercilessly tweaked their recipe to for peak home cooking ease: ditching the almond flour, scaling the measurements down by, if you must know, 1/13 to get them to line up better with our grocery sizes, reduced the sugar slightly, bumped up the salt, and then I spun the recipe out into dark chocolate and vanilla versions, and here, a marbling of both because sometimes you don’t want to choose. If you have a food processor, you can make the dough from cold butter, unfussy sugar cookie-style, in under five minutes. If you have a stand mixer, you can do the same, although it takes a few more minutes. If you have neither, you will simply need to soften the butter before you begin.
Needless to say, these are squarely in the less traditional/dairy camp — I mean, they look like cows. But they’re also, for me, the last hamantaschen recipe I’ll ever want: rich, delicious, and unfussy enough that you can make them in very little time. I hope you love them too.
Previously
6 months ago: Pasta with Pesto Genovese
1 year ago: Sweet Potato Salad with Pepita Dressing
2 year ago: Cauliflower and Tomato Masala with Peas
3 years ago: Quick, Essential Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese
4 years ago: Tomato-Glazed Meatloaves with Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes and Pomegranate Grapefruit Paloma
5 years ago: Belgian Brownie Cakelets, Broccoli Melts, and White Russian
6 years ago: Perfect Corn Muffins and Spaghetti Pangrattato with Crispy Fried Eggs
7 years ago: Stuck-Pot Rice with Lentils and Yogurt and Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew and Morning Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel
8 years ago: Blood Orange Margaritas
9 years ago: Double Coconut Muffins and Fried Egg Sandwich with Bacon and Blue Cheese
10 years ago: Green Bean Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Fried Almonds and Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil
11 years ago: Walnut Jam Cake, Ginger Fried Rice and Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes with Mint Cream
12 years ago: Whole Lemon Tart, Alex’s Mom’s Stuffed Cabbage and Toasted Coconut Shortbread
13 years ago: Pasta Puttanesca and Pear and Almond Tart
14 years ago: Fusilli with Baked Tomato Sauce and Aloo Gobi.
Marbled Cheesecake Hamantaschen
2/21/21 Updates: After reading how many struggled with crumbly dough, I’ve retested these a few times this weekend am adding a few notes. Biggest change: I’ve dropped the first flour amount from 2 1/4 cups to 2 cups. I think you will find these much bendier without cracking, so yours will be as perfect as the pictures here.
- 1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese (see temp note up top)
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- Two pinches of fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon juice
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/3 cup (40 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 2 cups (265 grams) all-purpose flour (updated amount, see Note)
- 12 tablespoons (6 ounces or 170 grams) unsalted butter, cut into cubes (see temp note up top)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (45 grams) additional all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder, any kind
Filling
Dough
Make filling: In a small-medium bowl, mash cream cheese and sugar with a fork (this will be easy if room temperature and take a couple minutes longer if it’s cold, but will work either way). Add salt, vanilla, lemon juice, and egg yolk and continue to mash and blend until smooth. Transfer to refrigerator until needed.
Make dough in a food processor: Combine the sugars, salt, and 2 cups of the flour in the work bowl. Add butter and mix or pulse until it disappears, then keep running the machine until it just begins to clump. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined into one big or a few smaller masses, scraping down the bowl as needed for even blending, then keep running the machine until the dough is smooth and easily forms one big blob. This might take up to a full minute longer.
Make dough in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer: Combine butter, sugars, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until creamy. If you began with cold butter in a stand mixer, this will take a couple minutes and require you to scrape down the bowl a few times. Once mixture is thoroughly combined, add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add 2 cups of the flour and beat until it disappears, then keep mixing until the dough is smooth and easily forms one big ball; this might take up to a full minute longer. Scrape down the bowl.
All methods: Scoop half the dough into a separate bowl. You can eyeball it, or, if you have a digital scale, my dough halves weighed 308 grams each [new weight based on lower flour amount]. Add remaining 1/3 cup flour to one half of the dough, and 1/3 cup cocoa powder to the second half, mixing until blended. Once again, run the mixer or machine until the dough is no longer crumbly and is in one big mound; this can take 30 to 60 seconds longer. [If using a FP or stand mixer, I mix flour in the half that’s still in the bowl of the machine, scoop it out, add the second half of dough to the machine and blend in the cocoa.]
Marble your dough: Place a large piece of parchment paper on your counter. Spoon little dollops of chocolate and vanilla doughs all over, alternating dollops a little but no need to be very checkerboarded about it. Use an offset spatula, bench scraper, or even a spoon to smoosh and mush some of the pieces together, creating areas that are more blended and leaving some unblended.
Roll dough out: Cover with a second sheet of parchment paper and roll doughs out into an even 1/8-inch thick slab. If you started with cold butter, the dough will probably be solid enough right now to skip it. If it feels very mushy/warm, however, slide the onto the back of a large baking sheet and pop into the freezer (or, uh, outside if it’s cold but not snowing where you are) for 3 minutes. We do not want the dough to be hard, just somewhat firmed up but still very bendy.
Form shapes: Return the dough slab to your counter. Carefully peel the parchment sheet off the top and replace it. (This loosens it.) Flip slab over onto the loosened side and remove the top parchment sheet entirely. Use this to line a large baking sheet.
Cut dough into 3-inch rounds. Place a measured 1-teaspoon dollop of cream cheese filling in the center of each. Fold up the edges in 3 sections and pinch the corners closed and [updated to add] continue to pinch/”zip up” the cooking, pinching it closed, until only a marble-to-quarter-sized opening remains. Don’t worry if the center looks underfilled; the cream cheese expands in the oven. Transfer each to the parchment-lined baking sheet. These do not spread, so you can fit them fairly close together on the tray — i.e. 1-2 inches apart.
To reroll scraps, pile them in the center of the piece of parchment paper and place a second sheet on top again. Repeat the process of rolling the dough thin, briefly cooling it, loosening the back, and cutting it into circles until all the dough and about 2/3 the filling is used.
Bake hamantaschen: For 20 to 25 minutes, until pale parts of dough are golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack.
Store: Hamantaschen keep in fridge for up to one week.
Yum! I may have to try these! The last few years I’ve made chocolate peanut butter hamentashen using your chocolate sables for the dough, and your chocolate peanut butter cup filling. The dough is a little frustrating to work with, but they are SO DELICIOUS!
I’ve been making chocolate hamantaschen for a few years now using the chocolate rollout cookies recipe from this site for the dough. It rolls out like a dream and has the most delicious brownie flavor. Just made them yesterday, filling half of them with cherry jam and the other half with Biscoff cookie butter. (They’re so good I actually make them in the off season too.)
Do you mean the ‘brownie roll-out cookies?” Wouldn’t those have a much softer texture than a traditional hamantasch? Just trying to figure this out because two of my friends who made the marble hamantaschen from this recipe complained that the dought was dry and fell apart and, interestingly, Deb has not responded to the few comments complaining of similar issues with their dough . . . ?
Hi Janice — I’m sorry that some people are having trouble with the dough. I’ve responded to dozens of comments over the weekend but might have missed some, and also provided two recipe updates throughout the weekend, with additional tips, and also with a slight flour reduction which will hopefully ensure everyone has the same success I do.
I haven’t tried the brownie roll-out cookies as hamantaschen, but I would expect if they’re rolled thin, they could crisp up nicely. They stay tender only when they’re thick and not overbaked.
Thanks!!
Hi Janice, yes that’s the dough I use. We actually like them a little soft, but like Deb said, when I roll the dough thinly, probably around 1/8”, and bake them completely, they crisp up nicely. I use the same dough for jam pockets or thumbprint cookies too. It’s just such a sturdy, delicious cookie and goes well with lots of fillings. Another favorite around here is to add almond extract to the dough and fill with cherry jam.
The taste did not work for me . The dough is a bit dry, but that’s how hamentaschen dough is — but I think it needed the tartness of jam to cut through it. Nothing wrong with the recipe just my preference. Sharing because I wish I’d thought of that before making them. Now all I want is some good tart jam to stick in there !
Perfect timing! I just tried two Hamentaschen recipes from other sources and they were disastrous. The only cream cheese I have is spreadable Philadelphia, would that work?
I haven’t baked with it so I’m not sure if the ingredients are the same and it’s just fluffier or if it’s something else.
Er, here in Germany, spreadable Philadelphia (and other brands, but basically the same stuff) IS cream cheese. Until just now it never occurred to me that your cream cheese might be different to my cream cheese, and whenever a (usually American) recipe of any kind asked for cream cheese, I always used Philadelphia et al. Was that wrong? What should I have used?
Linda, in the United States cream cheese comes in two forms: the spreadable type in a round container and more solid rectangular blocks. The latter is what I typically use in recipes unless told otherwise. But if the spreadable type has been working for you, great!
Hey Linda, I’m over here in Denmark. As an American I can say that the Philly here is a mix between both the American spreadable and the harder variety. I have used it for making cheesecake and it’s just fine. Smitten Kitchen also has a recipe for cream cheese that I haven’t tried yet to see if I can get the more firm type.
Where are you living, Abby? In the UK I can’t find cream cheese in foil-wrapped blocks, so I buy “Philadelphia” in tubs (I guess they aren’t allowed to label it “cream cheese” here) and it seems to work. I would stick with “original” and not low-fat. I really miss the big blocks!
You call for 2C of flour but then in the instructions you say add 1/3C MORE of flour to half the dough. For a total then of 2 & 1/3 Cups. Is this correct as it’s not listed in the ingredients as 2 &1/3?
Thanks
Yes, I list the flour twice, despite it not be proper recipe-writing convention, because I knew if I wrote it “2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided” many more people — like me, I always mess up on these things — would add the whole amount. This was to head off errors.
So yes, it’s 2 cups flour in the whole dough. Then, once divided, 1/3 cup additional in one half, 1/3 cup cocoa in the second half.
Well I know what I’m making this weekend!!!
Thanks Deb!!!!
You are a genius. That is all.
These look great, Deb!
I’ve tried making hamentaschen in the past, but always had problems with them opening up during baking. Did you have any problem like this? Do anything beyond “pinch[ing] the corners closed” to ensure a good result?
These stay closed. :)
Nope. Mine all went SPLAT and opened up. Huge fail. I’m sure it was my error somehow but not a single one of them stayed closed.
They need to be sealed up more — keep pinching/zipping the sides closed, over the filling, until just a small opening remains. In the oven, they’ll still open a little, but because they’ve been “over-closed” it will adjust to a perfect hamantaschen opening vs. flopping open and spilling.
If you fold over the sides so they look like a pinwheel, and then pinch the corner instead of just folding up and pinching, the cookies are more likely to stay closed.
If you made a different type that has jam as the filling, I highly suggest mixing some cornstarch into the jam so it bakes up with a bit of structural integrity, and doesn’t leak all over. Obviously not needed for cheesecake!
Suggestions on what to do with the extra filling?
I guess “make more” isn’t what you’re going for. ;)
Just a thought to share. I made cute little mini cheesecakes with the extra filling. I put together a graham cracker crust in some mini pans, added just a touch of milk to the filling which I added to the crust, and then topped with a spoon of the cherry jam I used for my regular hamenstachen.
That sounds great. Did u mix melted butter into the the graham cracker ? And did u bake it what temp for how long?
I was making regular hamantaschen as well as the chocolate ones, and filled half of those with a little dab of the leftover cheesecake, and topped that with a dab of homemade jam. Blueberry Red Currant Cheesecake is amazing, just in case you were wondering. :)
Not having made these and not knowing the quantity left, is there enough to put in a small buttered ramekin and bake to eat as a faux cheesecake or dip some graham cracker in or something?
I have baked the extra filling from black bottom cupcakes in this manner (the cupcake filling is almost identical to Deb’s filling) and this works — it is like a tiny cheesecake. It might be best to bake it in a greased ramekin in a water bath. You could also mix some graham cracker crumbs with butter and press the crumbs into lined cupcake tins and pour the filling on top of that. Bottom line is that the filling is just too tasty to toss!
Dry crumbly dough despite room temperature butter and following directions. A shame, a shanda! The dough was barely moundable then it cracked apart upon rolling. I sprinkled with water, but no success. Now back into the processor to get dough moist, so marbling will be lost. And the filling looks like too much for the amount of dough. And weighing, mine was about 75g lighter than yours. Oy! It sounded promising, but didn’t play out.
Mine didn’t play out either. I went with scale measurement of ingredients so thought it’d be a cinch. Mine was also many grams short of Deb’s. No luck resurrecting it so I baked my filling in a graham crust and will happily eat my fail!
Wondering if the Cheesecake Hamantaschen would freeze well
Also wondering the same – if you ended up freezing, lmk how they turned out.
OMG. I was planning on making hamentashen this weekend, now I need to make these too. These are so different from any other recipe I’ve found or made. Thanks for giving me what I’m sure will be a delicious baking project.
I have a question about the rolling out step. I have tried and generally loved this trick since you first shared it, but occasionally when I roll cookie dough out between two parchment papers, one side gets really wrinkly and try as I might (flipping, chilling, peeling it off and turning it 90 degrees before putting it back on the dough), it ends up creasing and messing up the dough. I can find no rhyme or reason to when this happens and when it doesn’t. Have you experienced this? Do you have any tips? I’d love them if so, and thank you!
It’s just the parchment — maybe some are thinner than others. If a wrinkle forms, I just peel it back and press it. Or just ignore the crease.
I rolled mine out between two silicone mats, and it worked marvelously.
Brilliant. My current parchment is coated on both sides and too slippery to use for rolling dough.
Could another filling, say, raspberry jam, work here, or would it be too wet?
I am wondering the same – I think my kids would love the flavor of a raspberry filling but wonder what the moisture would do.
It’s definitely runnier but should work, just go easy on it.
Try the Trader Joe’s Just Raspberry preserves (in the hexagonal jar). It works without getting runny.
Delicious as they look. My dough was too crumbly. What’s the best thing to add if this happens again?
These look amazing! Can they be frozen? If so, should they be frozen before or after being baked, or either?
I think either would work.
Sorry. I don’t understand what happened or why this recipe failed me. The dough was literally so dry to I had to mix the remaining 1/3 flour and cocoa by hand. I had my husband read the amount of flour just to double check I didn’t read it wrong. They did NOT stay closed even though I pinched them well.
Did you forget to add the egg? I’ve done this in recipes before…
I think there was way too much added flour. I added water so it worked but they were still very dry
I had this exact experience as well.
Thank you for this recipe!
I was wondering if you have a guestimate on the nutrition facts; specifically, the carbs per cookie?
One of my kiddos has T1D. I’d love to make these but would need to have a ballpark carb count.
Thanks again!
I’ve made the filling and getting ready to make the dough. After reading all the comments/problems about the crumbly dough, I’m a bit worried. Deb, I’m anxious to know if you recommend a stand mixer or FP. Also, is it better to start with room temperature dough or straight from the fridge?
Either will work. But let the machine, whichever you’re using, run for a full minute so it really gets the butter soft and the dough an even, soft texture.
These look so good! Is it possible to make the dough a day in advance?
Yes, even longer, but you want it just below room temperature or at room temperature for shaping or they will break instead of bend.
Thanks! Does it make a difference if refrigerate before or after I’ve cut the circles?
No, but the shape might be easier to cut when just barely chilled.
I might have to make these in addition to my “traditional” ones (light, airy, cakey, with sour cream, orange & lemon zest) with homemade fillings. People who have been stuck at home since June are requesting these.
That rolled dough looks amazing! Can’t wait to make these. Thanks so much.
I know I’ll make these! But I just wanted to thank you for the belly laugh! Goal: Carrera marble. Result: cow hide.
Is lemon required in the filling (and generally for cheesecake) for a chemistry reason or is it just taste? -From a sad person who gets sick from lemons.
Just flavor; you can absolutely skip it.
I saw your Tiktok 👀
For years I have made little pig shaped cookies out of just this sort of marbled dough and they come out so cute because each one is just a little different from the last. If you wanted to make the dough plain vanilla would you just add 1/3 cup flour to replace the cocoa? Could you then use fillings like prune, apricot or poppy seed?
Thanks and happy Purim!
Yes. I was about to write this in the headnotes, that you can make this dough entirely vanilla or entirely chocolate by 1. Not dividing the dough when written, 2. Adding either 2/3 cup flour or 2/3 cup cocoa powder to it (instead of 1/3 cup of either to a half) and then had a brief panic because I haven’t tested this all-chocolate yet, cocoa is lighter, and I need to verify that the dough won’t be too soft. For cocoa, it will probably be safer to add another 1 to 2T cocoa, instead of 1/3 Give me a couple days. ;) However, for your purposes, yes, absolutely, all-flour works for vanilla cookies.
Hi – if not dividing, does all the flour get added at once – so use 2 2/3 cups instead of 2 cups and skip the whole add more flour later step?
Yes
I was too lazy to deal with marbling, I was making these right before the megillah reading. I used 2/3 cup of cocoa, and it worked great. I was expecting to have to fold the sides overlapping like I normally do, but these held together fine just pinching the dough.
Only problem was that they are better cold than warm, but that was an issue with my timing, not the cookies!
Do you have a chocolate filling recipe that might work with this cookie dough?
I’d love suggestions for other fillings too! Unfortunately my family doesn’t like cheesecake (I don’t understand it personally!) I’d love something chocolate or peanut buttery
There’s a chocolate pastry cream filling recipe on NY Times by Joan Nathan (also inspired by Breads/Lehamim Bakery) that’s delicious. I use mini chocolate chips instead of regular because I prefer the texture. You could probably also use Nutella or cookie butter to keep things simple.
We just made these hamentashen with a simple chocolate ganache filling and they’re delicious! Melted 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips with 1/4 c vanilla almond milk creamer in microwave 30 seconds. Stirred together and then put in fridge until thickened up enough to use as filling. Added a dollop of peanut butter to some of them too! Also made some using apricot butter.
I have a chocolate filling recipe! It is like a brownie center. So good! I’ll post it later when I’m home.
Sorry to ask a question unrelated to this post: in the grid of 16 photos from your second cookbook, in row 2, column 3 there is a dish with tortilla chips, beans, salsa, avocado etc. Can you tell me what it is? Thanks.
Ah, it’s Bacony Baked Pintos with The Works, isn’t it? It looks like the Tex-Mex version of one of my favorite recipes from the site, Baked Chickpeas with Pita Chips and Yogurt. Which is itself Middle Eastern nachos, as you say in your post. Only I call it Middle Eastern Papdi Chaat, since I’m from India. It’s such a great idea, no wonder it appears in so many formats across the world. Love it :)
I love this level of granular comment. Thank you. :)
Well- wasn’t going to make hamentashen this year, but now I may have to!
I’m going to make the traditional pastries with enriched yeast dough and fruit filling. The cookies are ubiquitous, but faux.
Can you point me to a recipe for this enriched dough hamentaschen?
“festival of Purim (think: Jewish Mardi Gras)”
That just makes me sad – that you would compare Purim to Mardi Gras and that you’d use that comparison to explain to non-Jews about this holiday.
I hope you enjoy your “oznei haman” (haman’s ears)
Claire- I see nothing wrong with this comparison! As a Jew involved in putting on various Purim shpeils (shows) and and parties over the years, I think Purim is absolutely our carnival holiday and we can learn a lot from the artistry in Mardi Gras and different Caribbean and diaspora carnivals. I am sad we’re all stuck at home this year! But at least we have hamantashen….
Can this dough be successfully used as a biscuit dough instead of with a filling?
As cookies? I, in fact, made a bunch as round, pretty cookies but they’re really not very sweet. They do bake up beautifully but would benefit from closer to 1 cup total of sugar. If you’re interested in the marbling technique in a butter cookie, I actually have one I never published over the holidays and should… dust it off!
Ooh! Please do!
Did you use any type of water or egg wash or other edge-sticking methodology for these? Or has that ship sailed and we are just embracing leaky corners?
These seal well with no extra work or ingredients. I did test them with an egg wash on the outside but didn’t like them shiny, they didn’t look appealing.
Deb, Thank you for this recipe, and your Great sense of humor.
They are very tasty and makes a beautiful cookie
Great recipe! PS: If you want them to look like marble, you would need to start with ropes of each color, twist them together, then ball up and roll out.
These look amazing! is the cocoa unsweetened?
Yes, unsweetened.
For the filling I’ve been using Russian Farm cheese named Tvorog which you can get in Russian groceries. It survives really well in baking being dry enough.
Just tried to make these and the dough is insanely dry! It wouldn’t come together, just crumbled in my mixer bowl. I couldn’t dollop “spoonfuls” of it, but rather had to break off crumbly chunks. No matter how much I tried to manipulate it I couldn’t get it to marble together at all and it just broke when I tried to wrap it around the filling. I really want to try again so I can use the filling, but I don’t know what went wrong so I’m not sure what to fix.
These look like a ton of fun. I do not like cream cheese at all. Would it be possible for me to put in something else? Perhaps creme fresh, feta, or goat cheese?
after i divided the dough and added the extra flour/cocoa, both sets of dough were VERY crumbly and not doughy enough…what can i do to fix this?
Same thing happened to me. I felt like I missed something somewhere, but I definitely didn’t.
Me too.
I have a question. I am baking these now. The dough before I added the extra flour was lovely, pliable and soft. When I roll these out and then shape them, they are cracking. I have tried rolling them thinner. Any suggestions?
Same here. Even after the updated notes. I made this today and they just fell apart when folding.
I added 1 tablespoon-1.5 of orange juice. Looks more like dough now. Oh and I didn’t add the extra flour.
Deb, I’ve tried to make your traditional hamentaschen before and now these, and they both opened up in the oven. Would chilling the filled cookies help?
I tried to make this, but the dough will not come together. It just crumbles and falls apart. I am unable to work with it. Currently chilling it in the fridge in the hopes I can salvage it and perhaps make sandwich cookies. I live at 7200 feet and it is very dry here, but never had this happen before. Any suggestions?
I added a tablespoon of water to each half and it was perfect, after having the same problem.
I had the same issue super dry. Added tons of butter.
Hi Deb!
Long-time baker, first time writer here.
I love your recipes, and always have great success with them. This time, though, the dough was so dry and crumbly that it was really difficult to fold them without them falling apart. I followed the recipe to the letter, so I don’t know what’s happened. Any suggestions?
Thank you for your help!
Just to suss this out, did you use weights or cups? Food processor or hand/stand mixer? Just want to see where we’re hitting a snag.
I did by weight using a good processor – having the same issue.
I used a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, and weighed out my ingredients.
(For the record, they taste delicious! I put spoonfuls of raspberry jam in with the cheese filling, and even though many of them came undone/fell apart during the baking, it didn’t matter because they taste so damn good :-)
I followed to the t and my dough was incredibly crumbly…i put in the fridge for couple min did not help….they would not fold into triangles…sides caved in or broke…. :( flavor was quite good just bit dry. what could i have done wrong? /
Just to suss this out, did you use weights or cups? Food processor or hand/stand mixer? Just want to see where we’re hitting a snag.
I had this same issue! Used weights and a stand mixer.
Same issue, and I used measuring cups and a food processor.
I had the same problem, using stand mixer and measuring cups
My cookies turned into a crumbled mess inside the oven. So disappointing.
Followed the recipe to the letter. Coco portions seemed to fail to adhere to the white portions with any gusto.
Do you live in an area that’s currently drier and colder? I do, and I always have to adjust flour amounts for some types of winter baking. I start by holding back a couple three tablespoons of flour, then stir part of it in if the dough or batter seems thirsty. That said, people who have humidifiers in their homes may not have this same problem.
Unfortunately these didn’t work for me—the dough was very crumbly and didn’t stick together at all when I took it out of the food processor post flour/cocoa addition. I added most of the remaining egg white, which helped a bit, but even still it took a lot of manhandling to be able to roll them, and I think the freezer step actually made them even harder to shape without cracking. Then almost all of them opened up in the oven :/
The good news is that they still taste pretty good, but I’m not sure I’ll make these again.
Just to suss this out, did you use weights or cups? Food processor or hand/stand mixer? Just want to see where we’re hitting a snag.
I used cups and food processor.
Same issue :( food processor and cups.
So crumbly I couldn’t work with it at all. I ended up putting the whole lot back in the food processor and adding an extra egg. That made it usable but turned everything chocolate. Good flavor though. Oddly enough I had the exact same issue with the rhubarb version in your cookbook. I added another egg to that and it worked perfectly.
Daley hung happened to me today. The dough was very nice before I added the extra 1/3 cup of flour and cocoa. After I mixed those in the dough looked like sand and just fell apart when I rolled it out. I did manage to eventually get it to come together after kneeling for a while and rolled it out, but the dough just split when I folded and shaped the cookies. All the cookies split open in the oven. Filling is nice but cookie is dry. I used a digital scale for all measurements, a food processor, and regular/traditional butter.
DEB. I just sent everyone your *other* hamantaschen recipe for our first annual Zoom Hamantaschen Baking Party tomorrow night, and then you posted these! Gah! Which to make?!? A good problem to have…
Making the filling – it becomes more of a liquid, even more so after adding the egg yolk, and in the oven it doesn’t hold, and the dough just flattens and the filling runs off.
What should I do?
Did you chill the filling first? It firmed up a bit for me after resting in the fridge. But my cookies still opened up. I think I need to be more assertive in pinching them nearly closed first and possibly chilling them before baking. Tasted great, though.
Try chilling the filling a little. And seal the sides so that it holds it like a cup — you can see it, I hope, in my photos above.
So the filling never firm even after an hour in the fridge, a dollop was never as firm as in your photos. And it was the regular Philly cream cheese, not low fat, in case that could have been a reason.
Not sure, maybe I can use cornflour to help with that?
I start with cold cream cheese (from a brick) and mash with a fork because I never plan ahead enough for it to warm up, so that might be why it looks stiffer. However, it’s still, I’d say, Greek yogurt-soft. If it’s easier, and I’m not sure why I didn’t suggest it from the get-go, put it in a sandwich bag and snip off a 1/2-inch corner and pipe a dab in the center.
Great choice. I am going to try making Neapolitan hammantachen by adding freeze dried strawberries to 1/3 of dough. Inspired by Neapolitan cookies from 100 cookies book.
This is brilliant.
These look so good! I guess after making hamantaschen the first time, it gets easier? I love the different varieties but think I’ll try this one first. Thank you!
I’m struggling with folding these–I can roll them out, but when I try folding them, they crack and break on all 3 sides. I followed the recipe as written, no changes/substitutions. Made in a food processor, using a scale for the initial flour and volume for the sugar, butter, and 1/3c of additional flour or cocoa in each half.
My kitchen is warm, so I am sticking the dough back into the freezer for a few minutes in hopes that will help, but so far I’m not loving this one–will stick to the brown butter and hazelnut ones that were a hit last year!!
Same problem here. What kind of butter/flour did you use?
Wonderful! I want to do it soon! Thanks
Is it possible to make the dough and filling one day and leave them overnight, and combine and bake them the next day?
Yes. The main thing is that you want the dough soft, not cold (or just barely cold) when you form them or it will crack, not bend.
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try this tomorrow.
I really wanted these to work, but like others mentioned, the dough was so dry and crumbly it was a bear to get it to come together. The cheese filling was very runny and had to be drizzled in place instead of scooping it, and as soon as the tray hit the oven everything collapsed into a crumbly, runny puddle. We thought they would taste good regardless of how ugly they looked, but overall they are just really dry and unpleasant to eat. Not a recipe I will repeat.
Did you use a food processor?
My dough is falling apart when making the triangles. What can I do.
Tell me more. Cracking? Is it too cold? Was it very well-blended?
I made the dough in a food processor and it came out very dry and difficult to fold as it kept cracking.
Made these yesterday, very dry and crumbly, would not stay together in the oven. The filling is yummy. I always have such good luck with your recipes. This one disappointed. Sorry
Dint forget anything, and weighed ingredients.
I just made these, but was a bit frustrated with the outcome. I’m an experienced baker and have made hamantaschen before…and thought I had figured out how to keep the corners together. I found the dough not as cooperative when shaping, and I had many corners fall apart…despite pinching. I used a food processor to make the dough and chilled it according to directions. I weigh my ingredients. Like other commenters, I thought the dough was a bit too crumbly, even though it did roll out okay. If I were to make again, I think a little water might help the dough be more pliable. I still want a better way to ensure the corners won’t open during baking.
I’m sorry these gave you trouble. I just 1. Went to the kitchen and made them again, 2. Added a bunch more tips that I hope will help — in short, if you’re starting from cold butter in the FP, run the machine, scraping down as needed, beyond the dough just coming together. You the butter soft enough in there that it forms a big, smooth blob. If it doesn’t, keep running it. I went 30 to 60 seconds beyond the crumbly stage.
I just caught up on reading comments (3pm) and after reading how many of you are struggling with dry, crumbly dough, I literally ran to the kitchen to make these again, using the cup measurements and really scooping them so they were on the full side. The last tray just came out of the oven (4:30pm!), just like you see here. Let me add a few additional tips that I hope will help, and I’ll note them in the recipe:
If you’re starting with cold butter, you will need to blend the dough much longer than seems necessary — up to a full minute longer in the machine. If it looks crumbly, it’s not blended enough, period. Cold butter won’t hold the dough together as well; the machine will soften and warm it. Don’t take it out of the stand mixer or food processor until it looks like a smooth, normal cookie dough, in basically one large blob.
If your dough or kitchen already seems firm/cool, you can skip the 3-minute chill. My kitchen is cool today and I skipped it entirely. Just loosened the top paper, flipped it, and continued as written. The 3-minute chill is most beneficial if you started with softened butter.
If they’re opening in the oven, you want to seal them up more, leaving a smaller opening in the center than I show. I have had some open in each batch, but just a few; they usually had a crack along the edge or just weren’t closed enough. It’s fine to take the “walls” and bend them into the center a bit; they will open as it bakes for a more traditional final shape.
Err on the side of underfilling. I’m not sure how well you can see it in the 8th and 9th photos above, but the center parts are not filled. I’m using a measured teaspoon blob, but leaving it a little room to grow.
Err on the side of over-closing. You can safely close the cookies — and really pinch the corners — more than I do in these photos. They will still open enough in the oven to have a traditional shape, but this reduces the chance that they’ll flop open.
I feel terrible these aren’t a raging success for everyone, especially as I’ve been working on this recipe for nearly a month, so it’s had a lot, a lot of testing rounds at home. I wish I could come into each of your kitchens and watch over you shoulders, giving advice. I hope these extra tips help. And do check Instagram Story demo from Thursday, where you can see me make it just as you see here. Any more questions? Holler at me! We will get this right for everyone. xo
Deb, I love all of the time and care that you give to your recipes and that you care enough to help whenever you can! However, I can’t help wishing that you really could come to my kitchen and watch (and chat) while I make your recipes! Keep warm! I’m in sunny, yet very windy California!
Thanks, Deb, and I feel terrible that you feel terrible. The Instagram story says “not available”, by the way. I love the flavor of my opened up hamentaschen, and I Will make it them again,but I’ll pinch them closed more, chill them before baking, and I’m sure they’ll look better the next time. I think yours are so pretty, I made them the day after you posted.
I too found the dough really dry. It might be my fault because I used a new scale (that I wanted to try) up until the point of adding the last 1/3 cup of flour and of cocoa. So that might be the reason. Mine also didn’t stay sealed. The filling is delicious but not sure I’ll bother with this recipe again.
Unfortunately I’m having the same problem as a lot of other people today. Both doughs were incredibly dry and crumbly before I decided to add a couple tablespoons of water (based on someone else’s suggestion) to get them to what seemed like the right consistency – even still, they cracked upon assembly and opened in the oven. I definitely rolled mine out too thick, but I think they turned out pretty dry overall :[ The flavors are there, but it was a lot of work and kind of frustrating.
I guess my question is the same as everyone else, and maybe what went wrong? I wondered if maybe I needed 2 sticks of butter or a second egg.
(I used a stand mixer and measuring cups for reference.)
Filling tastes amazing, btw!!
I also had trouble with crumbly dough (cold butter, FP method). I added 1 T water to each half and that fixed that problem. Two other issues, though, one that the filling looks curdled (maybe because I used TJs cream cheese instead of Philly?) and many fell apart in the oven, so be sure to seal your triangles well!
Make tons of your recipes, Deb, and almost always find success, so thanks for all you do!
My dough didn’t come together well even though I weighed my ingredients. I added some ice water to try to bring it together but apparently not enough. Dough cracked and/or fell open. They taste good, though!
After reading the comments this morning I reduced the flour and only used 2 cups instead of 2 1/4, along with cold butter and a stand mixer and everything turned out great! My white dough was a little sticky so I left it in the fridge for longer, but had no trouble folding the triangles and they all stayed closed in the oven.
This is now my family’s new favorite hamentaschen dough!
Crumbly mess. Never made it to the oven. Couldn’t hold the dough together. I think it needs more butter and the stand mixer is a no no. But the filling is incredible. Thoughts?
This was my first-time making hamantaschen and they turned out pretty nicely. I read the comments from other bakers on the crumbly nature of the dough, so I made sure to start with room temp butte and as I was using a mixer, not a food processor, I creamed the butter and sugars together before adding the flour. I had no difficulty rolling out the dough after this. The only issue I had was that despite some pretty aggressive pinching, about 40% of my cookies still opened up while baking. They still taste lovely!
I tried this but they completely fell apart in the oven and went totally flat! I pinched the corners really hard and didn’t over fill. Maybe I’ll try again and refrigerate the dough before putting it in the oven? any tips?
So I made a second batch which were refrigerated for the time the first ones were baking, and that i pinched together more and closed up more just before baking, and about 70% of those turned out! So I would say if you’re not using a food processor (I used softened butter in a stand mixer), refrigerate once baked (mine were for around 30 minutes). And definitely err on the side of closed up so that they dont bend outwards and collapse – my corners actually stayed together on closer inspection, but the walls kinda flopped out so they were flat.
I, too, sadly had issues with these — aside from the kids saying they look like cows and aren’t particularly sweet. Just before I started these last night I also made a double batch of your Tiny Taschen dough to go with my (Gil Marks) mohn filling and Maida’s prune-apricot filling as I do every year. Your other is my no-fail dough and has an second egg, +4T butter, +1/3c confectioners’ sugar. To this dough I ended up adding a second egg and 2T additional butter. I should have added more confectioners’ sugar too. This dough (especially the chocolate) was super crumbly and tough to work with. It is very cold and dry here in the Midwest which impacts the moisture in the kitchen. Sadly, these split at every fold. I did put them outside for a few minutes (10F) before baking and they mostly held together. I think if I’d added less cocoa, more sugar, 2 sticks of butter, 2 eggs and additional sugar in the filling it might have helped.
Would a few tap of water help to hold the dough together or more butter?
I was thinking about recommending 1T tap water for those still finding theirs too crumbly, but without testing it, I’m worried it will make the sides collapse in the oven. I’ll try to find time to test it this weekend.
I added a splash of milk to my crumbly dough and it came together perfectly. (I also made all vanilla and didn’t add the final 1/3c cocoa and 1/3c flour.).
Epic fail. Food processor, cold butter, followed the updated instructions and ran the machine forever but the dough kept rising to the top of the bowl and never fully came together. I forged ahead because I couldn’t bring myself to toss the dough but I couldn’t get them to pinch together and sort of folded them on top of themselves.
Friends! Another update. I made these yet again this morning because I cannot feel peace unless everyone has the same results as me and this time I dropped the first flour amount from 2 1/4 cups to 2 cups and they’re much easier. I hope you’ll agree.
I hate having to make a change after publishing and hope you know how much testing I do before publishing so that you never feel like your time has been wasted, but my hope is that with this update — that is, same instructions, 1/4 cup less flour — you’ll finally find these as easy and delightful as I do.
Two more notes that still hold forth from yesterday:
* “Zip” these seams up a bit; not just the corners but keep pinching until the middle is only open by a marble-to-quarter size. It will adjust, opening to a “normal” opening in the oven beautifully.
* I am finding no need to do the 3-minute chill on the dough. It’s fine right away, so I will note this.
Once again, huge apologies to anyone that’s struggled with this recipe. I hope this makes it right for everyone. xo
Thank you for your newest update! I noticed on Jake Cohen’s Instagram (where he referenced your tik tok and recipe) that his ingredient list is slightly different. He uses 2 sticks of butter, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp kosher salt, 2 3/4 cups flour divided, and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Would any of these differences account for some dryness or cracking? I’m dying to try these hamantaschen but waiting to hear your thoughts. Also, there’s another way to close hamantaschen that Tori Avey uses that I find stay closed beautifully without any pinching.
I haven’t tried his recipe but it’s a different formula/recipe. I think he was just inspired by the marbling.
These cookies are amazing! I made them with room temperature butter and a hand mixer and it worked perfectly. About halfway through mixing, the dough did get crumbly, but if you keep mixing as Deb suggests, it forms a nice pliable dough. I will definitely be making these next time I want to make impressive cookies!
I have made these now twice according to the recipe, and once as a gluten-free version. I just substituted the flour for cup4cup all purpose flour. They turned out just as good as the original!
Well damn, first time ever not reading comments. This was a super fail for me. Same issues that everyone else had with the dough. Bummer! I used FP
I cut out cookie circles placed them in paper cups, put filling on top then cut another circle on top and baked them off. Also made thumbprints as well. The cookie and filling was good but the shake failed me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Just made these. Very tasty but a couple of observations. The filling was quite runny (I put it in the freezer to make it firm enough to put into the hamen tashen. I used my food processor and probably over processed the dough slightly (it was a bit tough). And I had tons of filling left over. Baked it in a ramekin using some of the dough as a base (pre-baked). Was delicious!
I would add, having now seen all the comments on here that I weighed everything with a scale. That might explain why my dough worked just fine. It’s rare to see so many have trouble with a recipe on here. Seems like a first.
I made this in my food processor. The dough looked ready before adding the cocoa and flour to each half. I did not weigh the ingredients. Adding the 1/3 cup each dry ingredients to each half in the 2nd step made the dough too dry. I added 1/2 the egg white from the filling to each half which brought it back to the correct consistancy. The cookies did not stand up during baking though. Probably should have refrigerated the cookies before baking. The marbling technnique was awesome, and the cookies tasted good, just mostly flat! I will try this again using less flour in the 1st mix.
Made these as my weekly FaceTime bake date with my mini in Texas. We had a lot of problems with the dough crumbling. As a result our first batch were all shapes and sizes, but when the dough warmed a bit and we re rolled, it was much easier to achieve the right shapes and size.
Taste is delish regardless of how it looks; hubby says it is a tasty bite, We liked the more marbled look of the re rolled dough over the checkerboard of the original roll out. Not sure how we will fix this next time but I think the cocoa powder just made the dough too crackly. I might do all vanilla next time with a fruit jam.
I’m so sad! I made these twice: once with the old recipe, and once with today’s update (ironically, both today – I guess my phone didn’t update). First time with cold butter, second with room temp, both using FP. I’ll say try two was a bit better, but my goodness they cracked. I threw dough one away and used dough two for half sandwich/hand pie-type cookies and managed a few actual hamantaschen. If I had the patience (and the butter), I’d make a third batch and a.) add a bit of the egg white as some commenters suggested and b.) possibly/probably skip the chilling. Maybe a chill after they’re shaped to help them stay firm, but nothing before rolling! This has not shaken my faith in you, Deb, but it did make for perhaps my most frustrating baking day in years. Grateful to at least see that others are struggling as well.
Despite reading about some of the pitfalls in executing the recipe, I sallied forth, and it turned out wonderfully. I started with room temperature ingredients, used my stand mixer, and kept with the lower amount of flour – turned out amazingly well. (OK, the last ones are not exactly marbleized as one has to rework the dough, but that has no effect on taste.) Thank you!
For those who had dry crumbly dough, here’s what i did to fix the problem…I put all the dough in plastic wrap and wrapped loosely. Then i rehydrated the dough by pushing and rolling a little while in the wrap to fill in the cracks. I put it in the fridge overnight, and tried again the AM. All was fine, but I do recommend rolling out pretty thin because I think that’s why these tend to open up.
After my own and so many other comments throughout the day, I am happy to report that I made a mistake that resulted in easy to handle dough. My mistake: I inadvertently followed directions for a stand mixer instead of a FP meaning I added the flour last. It came together nicely, no cracks when shaped. The hamantaschen are good but taste a bit dry.
The hamentaschen dough from your cookbook is, in my opinion, the best ever (I always fill with homemade apricot filling) and as far as I’m concerned, I need never try another recipe. But if I were going to stray…this one would be my first stop.
Apparently it’s been waaaaaaay too long since I made anything requiring a cookie cutter. I didn’t have cream cheese in the house, so I filled with some delicious four fruits jam (strawberry, cherry, red currant, raspberry) instead. However, I should have chilled the dough longer and smooshed the corners together more, because my first batch mostly had the sides flop down in the oven and looked like a crime scene. For the second batch, I chilled the dough longer and then let it soften up again, and followed the advice more closely about leaving only a little bit of filling uncovered, and it worked much better. Apparently I need to make more rolled-out cookies and pastry dough so I can practice!
Actually, I made two mistakes: I followed the directions for a mixer but used my FP. Secondly, I did not add the 1/3 cup of flour to the vanilla batter. No wonder my dough was more moist and easy to shape!
I used white pastry flour, it was what I had. The dough is beautifully smooth, like a thick frosting, but definitely not the consistency of what you described, nor of what I can gather from the photos. It is too loose and wet to roll it as is. I double checked and included all the ingredients that go in before dividing the dough. Do you think the pastry rather than AP flour is the culprit, or perhaps the heat generated from the food processor? Any suggestions of how I might fix it before dividing it?
Thank you, Deb.
PS- I used cold butter.
Dough is in fridge overnight awaiting your reply. ;)
How pretty are these? A must try.
Cocoa of Dutch cocoa or it doesn’t make a difference? Or is there a preference? And if using one v the other is any adjustment needed?
Doesn’t matter here; use what you have. I do like Dutched better and I’m using a fancy one here (Valrhona).
Dough came over very dry and crumbly. I was not able to get them to fold without cracking. I was able to get them in the oven looking pretty sad, and they tasted “OK”. These have potential but I could not make it work as is.
“After reading how many struggled with crumbly dough, I’ve retested these a few times.”
THIS. This is why you are the best food blogger.
Dear Deb,
I just want to thank you for your newsletters and for cheering us out here in the vast blogosphere. Today’s addition about recreating restaurant favorites was just what I needed and I am truly sincere in that you are my essential worker in one sense.
My mom passed of Covid in December in her nursing home. She was a conservative Democrat Catholic and her best friend Pearl, a liberal Democrat Jewish woman worthy of her name, which could also have been “Diamond”. I learned of Shabbat and the Jewish holidays from her and her daughter, my best friend for a few years until our interests split. Pearl also was a shining light for my struggling gay son, as was my mom, and was another grandma to him. when you bring the traditional Jewish recipes to me, with a twist or a tweak, I think of my mom and her friendship. A thousand thank yous and many blessings on you and your family.
Hi Mary — I am so sorry about your mother. May her memory be a blessing.
I made these yesterday (my first time making hamantaschen!) and they came out very nice. I actually liked them better the second day after they’d sat in the fridge overnight. Will definitely add these to our cookie repertoire.
Forgot to mention, I made these in a stand mixer with cold butter and followed everything to the letter. Since a few people mentioned trouble with crumbly dough…
I made these tonight exactly as per the updated instructions (using 2 cups of flour instead of 2 1/4 cups), weighing all my ingredients and using a food processor to make the dough. Unfortunately, this dough was still a crumbly mess that was impossible to work with (and I do have experience making traditional hamantaschen). I did manage with difficulty to assemble a few hamantaschen but they all cracked and split in the oven. I must say that the dough felt moist and beautifully pliable before adding that last 1/3 cup of flour in the vanilla dough, and then became crumbly after the flour was added. I’m wondering if these would work better if you omitted that additional 1/3 cup of flour?
I would mix it longer once you add the 1/3 cup of flour; it will get smooth. Starting with cold butter, it takes longer for the butter to soften and warm up to the point that it can moisturize the dough. I’ve made these three more times since Friday with the 2 cup plus 1/3 cup flour and cocoa and once it’s blended until absolutely smooth and supple, it always works without cracking. I hope this helps!
I made these last night and they are no longer (fortunately, I made a partial recipe). They are divine. I’m going to have a week of mini-hamentaschen recipes, with my traditional poppyseed on actual Purim. I’m eyeing your apricot brown butter ones as well.
Thanks for the quick reply to my cocoa question. The first 1/2 batch turned out well, folding the corners worked, filling was fine. But they are lacking something, sort of bland, not much taste. And I hate to say that, as your rugelach, babka and others are all excellent. I followed this recipe, using my scale, exactly. I live at 7000 ft, so did add an extra 1/4 teas salt, and watched time and temp carefully.
Do I need more salt to both dough and filling, a smidge more sugar, an added something (poppy seed, peanut butter, other) to the filling?
Per an earlier comment, my hamantaschen were significantly better after a day’s rest in the refrigerator.
You can definitely bump the sugar to 1 cup (1/2 powdered, 1/2 granulated) if you wish without any ill effect for a more traditional sweetness. Because the cheesecake here is fully sweetened, I wanted to leave the outside less sweet, but it can be adjusted.
Never again, I’ll keep to my tried and true recipe. I did use the reduced flour recipe. I think that the cocoa makes the dough too dry; and that’s why the dough cracks when you are forming the hamentashen. I was ready to toss everything out. Very frustrating, lose of time and money.
I made these last night and they came out perfect! Thank you so much for a great recipe. The dough was not dry and very easy to work with. I had slightly less dough than you did (about 588 grams). Also, I made mine a little bigger because I only got 18. They look beautiful and are really tasty.
Excited to try these, but I’m out of powdered sugar! Can I replace it with the same amount of granulated sugar?
A long-gone Hungarian bakery on the Upper East Side made hamantaschen with a walnut filling. I’ve been searching for a walnut-filling recipe for many years. Would you know of one?
I’ll definitely try your marble ones.
You could use the hazelnut paste here with walnuts.
I’ve never made this type of cookie before, and I think I overstuffed at least half of them (and certainly didn’t have a third of the filling left over, just generous bowl scrapings for my tummy).
But they were super tasty, and so much a better fit for yummy/effort ratio than the creampuffs I made on Saturday.
These were sooooo delicious, and the marbling is lovely (and cute! they do look like Holsteins!). I preferred the appearance of ones that were rolled twice (scraps from round 1); the marbling was more intricate.
A tip to lazy bakers. If you roll out the dough to a little shy of 1/4″ and think, “that’s got to be good enough, right? It’s basically 1/8?”: the answer is no. Those ones will collapse under their own weight and you will have flat cookie rounds with a dollop of cheesecake filling in the middle. Still delicious! Not hamantaschen. Learned that one the hard way :)
These looks so good, Deb! I have been seeing versions of these cookies here and there and now I know why – I hadn’t heard of them before. I wish there were more days in the week so I could eat more cookies :)
Ugh I followed the recipe with the new updated flour measurements and the dough was too dry and crumbled when attempted to fold. This was my first time making a marbled dough but both the chocolate and non-chocolate were equally dry. I’ve put the dough in time out in the fridge so will figure out how to fix this mess later. Hoping I won’t have to create a new dough from scratch but I’m not too confident that I can salvage the dough.
Put it back in whatever machine you used and mix it longer, if they’re still separate. If it seems crumbly, it needs more mixing until it’s smooth.
No problem at all with dryness. The dough gets soft fast and is hard to work with, so you have to move quickly. I might add some of the flour back in to see if it helps with the softness issue. I have a slightly different cream cheese filling I prefer: 8 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp flour, and 1 egg yolk. Just a little different, but I prefer the taste, color, and it holds up better.
Success with the updated dough recipe! I did not make the filling. Keep an eye on the bake time. Mine are slightly overdone at 15 min. They look beautiful and the house smells great. Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments and especially to Deb for updating in time for Purim.
These are delicious! I made the recipe as written, with the exception of putting a dot of cherry jam in the centre before the cheesecake filling. My only “problem” was one side of the triangle would collapse during baking, making my cookies flatter, but the filling remained on the cookie. Was probably something I did and did not affect the taste.
I wonder if differences in butter content are causing some of the problems? This article relates to Canada but I wonder… https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/article-is-your-butter-not-as-soft-as-it-used-to-be-the-pandemic-and-our-urge/
These are my, “now I can die happy recipe!!!!”
Made it w the extra flour and we all agreed, that, while making them was hard because of the crumbly nature-it was that very quality that MADE them outrageous!!!! 🥳
Cannot thank you enough. Will be passed down through our family ✡️💕
I made the dough yesterday. And made the hamentasen today. They rolled out fine no cracking. However when forming they did slightly crack but wasn’t a problem. I didn’t see the post about cutting back 1/4 cup of flour. After forming I did put the cookie sheet in the fridge for about 10 min. They came out great & tasted so good. I didn’t have alot of filling left but thinking of using to ice a few cupcakes. I used a hand mixer to blend the filling. I will def make again!
Best hamentashen ever!
Hello Deb! these looks spectacular. I want to make them, but your text above has made me curious about the original recipe’s almond flour. What do you think about putting some back in? That sounds so good! And if you thought yeah, why not if love almond flour! How much would you put? Also, we are going to fill them with apricot, and maybe even lemon curd (that one is against my will) in addition to the cheesecake filling. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I made these (before the Feb 21, 2021 updates), and they turned out perfectly! I used a stand mixer and added a touch more water, about 1/2 tsp, to the cocoa dough to help it come together. I put the extra filling in a ramekin and baked it in the oven until done, and then we shamelessly spread it hot over graham crackers and chocolate (it melted the chocolate, yum). Finally, I froze some formed-but-not-yet-baked hamantaschen and tonight we baked a couple of them, and they were just as good as the first batch. Thank you, Deb!
So interesting. These look delightful, but they–in common with most commercial hamentaschen and recipes I’ve seen–are more cookie than the hamentaschen I grew up with and have baked most of my life. The difference is that “my” hamentaschen features a pastry with very little sugar and that uses either cream cheese or vinegar. The savory, buttery pastry complements the sweet filling. A friend who grew up in the Sephardic tradition says that’s the pastry she remembers, too. I like cookies, and this marble cookie looks delicious, but it’s not the same thing as the hamentaschen I know. Anyway, I’m not criticizing, just ruminating….
I’d like to try your hamantachen too!
This sounds incredible! I just always had an issue with hamatashen cookies, too thick, not enough buttery flavor, not rich enough… the pastry version sounds perfect! Like something I may have had as a child! If you find the recipe, let us know!
There are a couple of versions, but the one I made most recently had 1/2 lb each butter and cream cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 cups flour. Cream the first 2 ingredients, add the salt and flour. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 375. (My original temp on this one was 350; I’ve had wildly varying ovens over the years, I’m sorry to say.)
It’s more pastry than cookie, I guess. Poppyseed filling is the only one that feels right to me, though I will do a few apricot for show!
Made these last night and they came apart in the bake. Turned bake into circles with a dollop of cream cheese in the middle. Pinched up the second batch really good and they did the same. Any thoughts on what I did wrong?
I rolled out & formed Then put on my sheet & put in fridge for about 10 min. I didn’t put rolled out dough in freezer. Also I made sure I pinched seams very well. Also if you didn’t weigh your flour & cut back the 1/4 cup that may have caused your issue.
I made these last night, cold butter and food processor, but I *think* I only put in 1 1/2 cups flour before separating the doughs… was using a half cup measure and lost track. It seemed very sticky and I ended up just mixing in the cocoa and extra flour by hand – cocoa stayed a little sticky but flour half was the perfect texture. I fridged both for 10 min before rolling out, and fridged for another 10 after rolling before cutting. They were a little tricky to handle but I was able to form and fold them, and after baking for 20 min they were AMAZING – they didn’t hold their shape (since there wasn’t enough flour) but they flattened out into triangular buttery, crispy on the edges, caramalized-sugar-bits amazingness. I had made the filling the day before so it was fridge-firm, which I think also helped. I’m going to try again today with more flour to see if I can get them prettier… but I might make them again with the “mistake” because they were so yummy my housemate and I ate half last night!
update: I made these again, and put the full 2 cups in. but then the texture seemed almost perfect, so I added the full 1/3 cup cocoa but only a tablespoon or two of flour. they needed chilling in between steps for sure, but these came out PERFECT – held their shape and had a perfect almost shortbread but a bit more chew texture.
agreed that the ones from scraps re-rolled are prettier, as the marbling increased. I re-rolled many times and found it didn’t make the end product too tough either.
Hi Deb
I’m a very good baker, and saw you on the Central Synagogue zoom. Looked like a breeze, so I decided to make them today for my granddaughters. Had no trouble with the dough, mixed it until soft and shiny and until it was a ball (in a FP). Cut out the circles, and then the trouble began. Hard to hold the shape, and during cooking, definitely did not hold. Filling breached the walls! ha. I’m sure they will taste good, but really not sure what I did wrong…..or what I could do better?
Thanks, Arlene
Hamantaschen floppen. All the triangles opened :/
Help!!! Making my 2nd batch… they keep opening up… I’ve pinched the corners and followed recipe… I chilled 2nd batch to see if it’d help but still the pinched corners keep opening… help. Please. And thx ox.s
HELP..I made you hamantaschen. The corners fell down and they look
awful….taste ok but!! I thought I pinched them tightly…what did I do wrong?
What other recipes pages do you have?
ty
Hi – I baked the hamantaschen with Central Synagogue on Monday night. The dough came out great until I split the dough and added flour and cocoa to it in the food processor. The additional flour made the dough completely crumble. Should I have mixed it more?
These turned out super tasty, but I had portioning issues. The recipe says it makes 30-35 cookies, but I got more like 20- I might have rolled the first batch of dough out a little too thick? And then because I had fewer cookies, I had way too much filling (probably double what I needed). I baked it off in some ramekins so we could eat it too.
Also, I left the lemon entirely out of the filling, and they were still delicious!
These are tasty! The dough was a little dry so it was hard to pinch them closed. The filling is excellent. I used only 1/4 cup of sugar and its still good.
Thank you for the recipe! I always had the same row with hamatashen, you think you’re getting one thing and get a another! Yours is close to greatness! When I made the coco dough, it was just too much dry ingredients I think… maybe use just the cocoa powder?? And also my cookies didn’t hold shape in the oven when baked, possibly refrigerated/freeze before baking? I guess there are benefits to using margarine as per usual hamatashen recipes, but butter is always better, so we will keep striving! Side note: I used grams for the baking
I made your recipe with the modified flour amount. All went well until it came time to add in the additional 1/3 flour in one half and the cocoa powder in the other. Both halves crumbled and never came back together. I was able to roll them out just fine but when it came to adding filling and folding/pinching the edges, they crumbled :( I think the cocoa powder half should take 1/3 less flour and the extra flour half shouldn’t get extra flour.
Wow. I made these last weekend. I loved the recipe. I had to use gf flour,, and the cookies were tender and buttery. These might be my new favorite cookie.
I made these gluten free with the new notes included in the recipe and they worked great! I used the food processor and weights and an all purpose 1-to-1 gluten free flour blend.
I did chill the dough, but then found that it actually crumbled more when even a little chilled and I found it easy to fold and pinch the corners when the dough was more room temp.
Followed the recipe’ but they still deflated :((. Any suggestions? Thanks!
This wins the prize as the absolute worst recipe I have ever made (and I’m 69 years old). The chocolate half of the dough never came together, but remained crumbly–no surprise that a third cup of cocoa would behave differently from a third cup of flour when added to the starting dough. So it was well nigh impossible to marble the two doughs together. I ended up pressing them with my fingers in hopes my body heat would help the process. Once rolled, the circles of dough stuck to the parchment paper and then, when I tried to pinch the edges together around the filling, it just fell apart. And by the way, there looked to be easily twice as much filing as would be needed. When I couldn’t form a single hamantaschen, I just threw the whole mess in the trash. Waste of time and ingredients. Deb, I think you must have been high when you came up with this disaster.
Wow. just…wow. So a recipe didn’t work-SO not the end of the world nor any type of reason to be, well, mean is the only word that I can use that is safe for public viewing. It is not my first choice.
Out of hundreds of recipes, tips and lovely paragraphs sharing her life and heart from Deb-this is what you want to tell her?
In this era of negativity and stress for ALL OF US, why do you feel the need to make anyone feel bad?
Deb- I am a professional chef and I look forward to ALL OF YOUR STUFF!!! I know the hard work recipe development and testing is and I thank you for caring so much and sharing it with me.
That reply was very disrespectful and unnecessarily rude! We all try recipes that don’t work right or that we don’t like. Deb has been trying very hard to come up with fixes for this recipe. Accept that it didn’t work, and that you couldn’t find any fixes for it either and MOVE ON. You owe Deb an apology.
MOST of the commenters here had trouble with this recipe. Describing my own experience is not mean or rude or disrespectful, just factual. And being disappointed about the waste of time and ingredients in a flawed recipe is perfectly natural. I thought it was worthwhile for Deb to know that even with her revised directions, the recipe was problematic. Personally, I think it should be deleted from the site entirely given all the negative feedback. Oh, and the last line about Deb being high was obviously a joke. Simmer down, people. It’s just hamantaschen.
“Deb, I think you must have been high when you came up with this disaster.“ This is your idea of a joke? I have had the pleasure of meeting Deb and she’s delightful and kind. She’s very smart and doesn’t need any of us to tell her when to keep or delete a recipe. There are many who have since reported that they’ve had success.
I have a terrific and sarcastic sense of humor but I know when to use it. Sitting behind a keyboard and sniping at someone isn’t funny.
Wow, cheesecake is amazing! ..Tastes great!
Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
Trying this recipe out today, it looks beautiful. I think the weight measurement for the flour still needs to be updated, should be 240 grams for 2 cups, yeah?
In case she doesn’t respond. Yes cut back to 2 cups of flour. I recommend mixing with a paddle kitchen aid mixer if u have. But mix well. Also I rolled out & formed & then chilled. Make sure u pinch seams well. Mine turned out great. (And I didn’t see the note about cutting back on the flour). Hope yours turn out good!!
Hah! I wonder if you will just figure that hamantaschen recipes are jinxed and forget the whole thing next year? I have so often wanted to make hamantaschen because I love to eat them…the only ones I have eaten, however, or from the bakery and hold either prune or apricot filling. I figure homemade must be better but every time I read a recipe and think about trying, the recipes are so fraught or the comments so discouraging (looking at you especially if you made a cruel, comment that was totally unacceptable) that I have always held back, and this recipe is no different in that. What is it about hamantaschen…is this Haman’s last revenge?!? I may yet try your recipe because I have a feeling if any of them will work, yours will be the one and I hope you know we, your cooking audience, really appreciate your hard work to try to do the impossible…that is present recipes that will work in every kitchen. In my case, most of yours are top notch!
Made these with “new” flour amounts – used scale and stand mixer. Dough came together well. However, next time I will marble and roll out dough, chill at least 1 hour, cut, shape/fill, chill again, and bake. Most of mine lost shape in the oven and this wasn’t my first hamentaschen rodeo! The filling is pretty tasty – honestly a strong fruit jam would be great too. Tastes even better day 2.
Deb, the hamantaschen were terrific!!!! Good reviews from those I gifted them. I should have put the cheesecake filling in the refrigerator to firm it up a bit before making these cookies. I did however, put the hamantaschen in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking them.
This recipe worked great for me (I used the updated flour amount, and a food processor). Thanks for this delicious take on hamantaschen!
In Denmark we have a cookie called Napolions hat that lookes like this but have a marcipan fill
I made these with the adjusted flour amounts (using weights and food processor). The dough was not pliable enough to bend without breaking so I did add about a two tablespoons of water to the dough (after it was marbled so I lost the marbling effect) and then they were perfectly pliable. And soooo delicious. Now I have to figure out what to do with the leftover filling.
Hi Deb, I know a lot of people had trouble with the dough, but these worked perfectly for me! I made them after you edited the recipe so that might be why my dough wasn’t crumbly. It rolled out really well and was super pliable. The cookies held their shape perfectly. We got 30 cookies out of the recipe and the first ones rolled out a little too thick or we’d have had a few more. Thank you for a great recipe!
I made these with the updated measurements and my dough still turned out awful. It was crumbly, dry, and kept breaking apart when I tried to shape the cookies. I’ve had great success with every other smittenkitchen recipes that I’ve tried, but these were a major flop.
I am an experienced baker and was excited to try this twist on a classic cookie. Unfortunately, I think the recipe still needs some tweaking. When I split the dough, the cocoa blended in easily. When I looked at the vanilla dough, it appeared to have a good consistency and held together in a ball. I ignored my baker’s instinct and added the extra flour. Big mistake. The vanilla dough was a crumbly mess and trying to form the triangle pinches for the cookie was a failure/PITA. If you are making these, do NOT add the final flour (1/3) cup. We’ve made many SK dinner recipes – uniformly delish – but this is my first experience with a SK dessert recipe and likely my last.
OMG! I made them this morning for a Purim lunch and they are amazing! I followed the recipe exactly. I did put too much cream cheese filling in them and a few spread and broke the triumvirate of dough. I made one cookie with some of the dough and this will be my go-to recipe for sable cookies. I do have leftover cream cheese filling and am curious to know what others are doing with it.
Thanks for this recipe – a definite keeper!
These worked very well for me using Deb’s revised instructions. I only got 20 cookies out of it but I was making them with a 3 year old and the dough may not have been rolled out evenly.
I didn’t chill the dough after I rolled it out because there wasn’t room in my freezer and it didn’t all fit on a baking tray. Next time I will halve the marbled dough and roll it out twice. But the rounds lifted fine from Bakeofoil with a palette knife. They stayed together fine in the oven – not a single one came apart at all. Very slight cracks in the dough where the creases were but it didn’t split or break and there was no leaking. My only beef is that there is a lot of surplus filling but I think the answer to that is either to halve the filling and make plain biscuits with the dough scraps or double the dough.
Rave reviews from everyone who’s tried one and they’re great for people who don’t like poppy seeds!
PS the rolling out between two sheets of parchment is genius
PPS thanks for tweaking the recipe in response to feedback, I think that’s great.
This is my new favorite hamentaschen recipe! I used the revised flour amounts, weighed, and my KA mixer with paddle attachments. Dough was perfect, not dry or crumbly. I did not marble by rolling out…instead I made a pile of vanilla and chocolate dough blops and then kind of smooshed it into a flattened ball shape and chilled it before rolling. Everyone I gifted them to loved them. Next year I am going to add a cherry inside with the cheesecake filling. With the extra cheesecake filling I went rogue and dropped it onto a batch of brownies before baking. Fingers crossed!
I just made these and they turned out pretty good! I let all my ingredients come to room temp and used a hand mixer. I used a scale to weigh ingredients and doughs (before marbling) to check it matched yours. The dough texture was just as described. A few cracked a little during shaping and they weren’t the prettiest/most even looking, but nowhere near the difficulty described by others.
Sorry Deb! These didn’t work for me even with the new measurements and reading all the comments. I used a food processor and measured the amounts with a scale. Dough was very crumbly and filling was too thin. Tasty mess but definitely not hamantaschen!
I’m sorry they were not a hit. For a crumbly dough, you want to mix it longer in the machine. Once the butter has more time to warm up and soften, it will come together smoothly. But if it leaves the machine or mixer crumbly, it won’t right itself later.
Honestly I read the comments, used room temp butter and the dough was literally hot out of the food processor because I ran it so long so I really don’t think it’s that! But I appreciate the reply and I love everything smitten kitchen! Just will pass on this one next year ❤️❤️❤️
I made this marble cheesecake hamantaschen recipe and it is by far the best hamantaschen I’ve eaten in my 52 years. I’m new to your site and would like to save this recipe to a “recipe box” or print it, but don’t see links or options to do either. Am I missing something? Thanks for any help you can provide.
A success story, so thank you for working on this recipe.
I made these on Friday with the reduced flower (2cups), but I used weights for everything. My butter and cream cheese were soft (I took them out while I made your breakfast burritos to freeze for Sunday’s picnic). I used a food processor. The dough was soft and I didn’t want to bother putting it in the freezer, I just kept rolling and making circles and picking each up, filling the cream while the dough was in my hand and pinching them. I ended up with 41 cookies, I guess I made my flatter than recommended, but they were great. I used up all of the filling (so I definitely overstuffed them, which I’m not sorry for), I even had few scraps left which I baked as plain cookies, which were nice also.
Some of my edges did unfold during baking (~10%) but the filling still stayed on the cookie so it wasn’t a problem. I also didn’t have much issues with the dough falling apart while I was pinching.
First day they were nice and crispy, after that they got softer, but still delicious. My family and friends loved them. They are not very sweet, but it’s not a negative.
I’m wondering if the dough is more crumbly if you start with cold butter? I don’t have a KitchenAid and hate making dough or pastry in my food processor, so had to nuke my butter to soften it enough for the hand mixer to manage (the child had reached a sort of fever pitch of desperation to get started so just waiting for the butter to soften in a warm room was not on the table). Not normally my favourite way to soften butter as I find by the time it’s all at least “soft” some of it has liquefied, and that was the case here – but my dough came together beautifully and pretty quickly.
Also, I think (unusually) that these really need to be left until they are cold to be properly appreciated.
Yes, the dough will be more crumbly from cold butter, so it needs a longer mixing time to soften. I’m glad they were a hit.
These were a big hit! The dough was so easy to work with ( I guess reducing the flour by 1/4 cup was the way to go). I liked the cheesecake filling but didn’t love it. Next Purim I think I will make these hamantaschen with a Nutella filling.
i made these but they looked and tasted absolutely terrible! I’m not sure why, i followed the directions precisely! The texture of the cookies was fine and the shaping went ok, it just wasnt a tasty cookie. I love your recipes and will keeping making them, but this one just wasnt for me
I made these with the adjusted amount of flour, and it was still wayyyy too crumbly to handle. Measured by weight and made in a food processor. I ended up making the dough twice. I made the first batch that was too crumbly into cut-out cookies, baked for 15 minutes. They were on the dryer side but still had an excellent chocolatey flavor. The second batch I made adjustments as follows: 250g flour for the initial dough. After dividing in half, I added 35g flour to one and 25g cocoa powder to the other. The texture looked a lot more like the Instagram video, and the hamantaschen turned out great.
Powdered Sugar = Confectioners Sugar or do I need to run to the store? I googled and got some sources that said they are the same but of course Martha Stewart says they are different. Making these at 5pm tonight with my daughter so hope you or someone that has made them can let me know if it’s okay to use confectioners sugar.
Thank you!!
I used confectioner sugar which is fine. Thinking if u use regular sugar may make filling grainy
Thank you – agreed wasn’t going to add additional granulated sugar just didn’t know if powdered was different than confectioners
Oh sorry yes they are the same!
No, they’re the same.
Any ideas for what to do with the leftover cream cheese frosting? it’s too delicious to waste!
I was thinking icing some carrot cake muffins. Although I didn’t have that much left.
I did make these with my daughter. We had fun and they are delish. What I did learn. I used the amended recipe with 2 cups of flour. On the second add we added in batches until the dough came together on both the flour and the cocoa powder which was dutch processed. When we first rolled out we didn’t get it thin enough it was probably more like a 1/4 inch thick than an 1/8 inch and as we were forming the triangles the dough cracked. So we split the dough in half and re-rolled to an 1/8 inch. (This was more a function of not being great at rolling out dough and we found the full amount too much to work with.) And while there was still a tad of cracking but nothing unsightly and all but two of the cookies stayed in the traditional shape. After shaping we did put them back In the freezer for five minutes before baking. We did this more because the rolling and filling took us time and the dough had warmed up significantly. Thanks Deb for all the attention to detail and when people were having trouble, doing the problem solving for us. It’s why I always come back to your website and support you with buying your cookbooks as well!
Made the marble hamantaschen cookies this past weekend. Don’t have words to say how great they tasted!!!!
I just made these, and thought I did everything right (I used the updated flour measurements as well), and they looked beautiful before putting them in the oven. Within 5 minutes in the oven, it became a melted mess on the pan. What did I do wrong?? Should they go in the freezer for a while before going in the oven?
No, but they might need to be sealed more. You want to not just pinch the corners closed, but continue to pinch the sides closed over the filling until only a quarter-sized opening remains. In the oven, it will still open slightly to have a “normal” sized amount of filling shown, but should not flop open at all.
Yes after I formed I put my sheet in the fridge for 10-15 min.
Deb, I can help you get the marbled effect, instead of the cow hide (not that these aren’t gorgeous the way they are!) Roll the dough into two long snakes – a chocolate snake and a vanilla snake. Then twist the snakes together into a big combined snake, then roll it up into a spiral/circle, and then use the rolling pin to flatten it. Super easy marbled effect. I do this to make a multi-colored fondant topping for cakes. The kids love it because it’s like playing with playdoh.
So crumbly I had to throw the whole thing out. Such a waste of butter. :(
It was a good thing to enjoy
I made these today with my 2-year-old. It was a breeze to make in my stand mixer, the dough came together beautifully, and they were super easy to shape. And also delicious! Now that our son is in bed it’s going to be tough for my husband and me to resist finishing off the pan! Thanks for another great recipe!
I wanted to check in to say I made these cookies last night and they came out perfect! The dough formed wonderfully in our stand mixer using the revised recipe from February. And of course, they were delicious! This was only my 2nd time eating hamantaschen and my 1st time baking it. I’m so happy with the results and will probably make them again around the holidays. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
I made this today using the new flour measurements and it was perfect! I used cold butter and the food processor method and weighed the ingredients with a scale. I wish I could post a picture because the ones I made looked identical to the website. So gorgeous! Will make again.
Can these be frozen?
I haven’t tried it so I cannot say for sure what the texture is like defrosted, but since we can buy cheesecake frozen, I suspect it won’t be an issue.
These were a major disappointment. My dough came together like it was supposed to, but kept breaking no matter what I did. I used all of my baking know-how, but I ended up making a few (that do not look anything like Hamentaschen) that totally fell apart. I ended up using the remainder of the dough and filling to attempt something cookie like, but they were completely dry and just…not great.
I made these twice because I didn’t understand why the first batch wasn’t delicious. They look unique and everyone wanted to try it because its a visusal winner. But the cheesecake portion is tiny and often deflates, the cookie wasn’t that tasty. I tried with some Jam/cornstartch as suggested and loved the combination more but Jelly sunk so need to figure out the right filling consistency. Clearly the best looking hamantaschen.
Unfortunately these were an epic fail (even with the modification to use less flour). The dough crumbled to pieces and I had to throw it all away :(
Hopefully better luck next time
This dough is a mystery. The cookies were delicious, but the dough was impossible to work with – kept cracking as I folded. Not sure why some people have success – maybe it is the cold butter that makes the difference, but hard to imagine that would be the only factor in creating such a finicky dough.
I have a question: can I make all the dough chocolate, replace the cocoa powder with black cocoa powder, and make the filling Oreo filling for an Oreo hamantaschen? Would that work? Would I have to do anything else to get the hamantaschen dough to taste like Oreo wafers?
I made these yesterday and they were delicious and everyone loved them. So much so that my daughter has asked me to make more so she can bring some in to share with her friends!!!! QUestion. Is the egg yolk necessary in the filling? Seems almost not necessary? I’m hesitant to switch it up since I had great success.
I made these last night, and a) they do, indeed, come together quickly, and b) are really delightful. The dough did go through a crumbly phase, but I just kept running the food processor until it came back together (almost exactly the extra 30-60 seconds Deb suggests it may take). I also found that my dough cracked when I shaped the cookies (I left it in the freezer too long), but despite cracking, they baked up looking great! Just to note, these are not super sweet cookies. In fact, for something that reminds people of cows, I would say they have quite a sophisticated taste.
Even with the lower amount of flour, mine fell apart. Could it be because I left the dough in the fridge for 24 hours?
Just made these for the first time tonight. They were very good, but a little lacking. I think they needed A) a pinch more salt to bring out the flavor (this coming from someone who is super sensitive to salt and always airs on the side of “less is more”), and B) a little jam to punch up the cookie. The consistency of the cookie is lovely, and the cheesecake baked nicely. It just wasn’t enough of a complement to the dough. I might swirl a little berry jam into the filling next time. As for the dough, I agree with others that even with the flour adjustments made, it still made for a dry, crumbly dough. I ended up adding a teaspoon of water to the vanilla dough while mixing. I didn’t have to do that for the chocolate dough, but by the time I had gotten the parchment paper ready, the balls of dough were dry again. So before I punched out my dough pieces to marble them together, I wet my hands with water and kneaded each ball of dough a bit more by hand. That moistened it up enough to get ready for rolling. Some of them did crack a tiny bit when forming triangles, but nothing I couldn’t smooth out. I think adding the little bit of water really made a difference. There’s not way I would have been able to make these without it. All in all, a good recipe, just needs a tiny punch up.
successfully made these again this year and made both as written and a gluten and dairy free version!
for gf/df, I just swapped mykos cashew milk cream cheese and earth balance for regular cream cheese and butter, and arrowhead mills 1:1 gluten free flour blend for the flour. I still used eggs because the friend who needed gf/df can do eggs and I’m allergic to most egg replacers, so ymmv without the egg. I added about 40g more flour blend to the first flour amount; didn’t do volume measure so not sure on that. Oh and the cashew cream cheese was very sour so I did half the amount of lemon juice.
for both versions, a few tips that seemed to help avoid some pitfalls a lot of folks encounter with this recipe: 1) make sure to actually mix as long as Deb says – the dough was very crumbly after maybe 10-20 seconds in the food processor; it took almost a full minute to come together into a ball. 2) I didn’t roll out to 1/8th inch; especially with the GF it wanted to break then. Somewhere between 5/8ths and 1/4 gave me a little more wiggle room to squish things as needed.
at that size I got 12 cookies with a 3 inch cutter and then used the re-rolled scraps to make 6 mini tarts in a muffin tin, and mixed the leftover creamcheese filling with some jam and berries. I froze each tray for 5-10 min before baking, and everything kept the shape and came out well!
Delicious! When you changed the amount of flour in the ingredients list, you didn’t also change it in the instructions for when to add the flour.
I made these tonight, substituting gluten-free flour, and they were PERFECT. I made a full batch and I’ll be amazed if any are left by morning. Completely delicious.
To alleviate the rerolling have you ever tried rolling into a log and slicing…just wondering, as I’ve never made these but they look beautiful…
AWESOME! I made these yesterday and loved the hamentaschen, despite overcooking them a bit. It is hard to tell that they are done, I should have taken them out of the oven at 20 mins, but added 2 minutes.
Random person in the internet: “Recipe bloggers should stop talking and just tell us the ingredients!”
My toddler, literally every time I said which ingredient or how much we were putting in next: “Why??”
We both had a great time making these! She strongly preferred the raw dough to the finished product but *I* thought the cookies were delicious.
Made these as cookie rounds without filling…bc I totally loved how the rounds looked–so mod!
I made these in a food processor and it made a nicely soft dough.
I adjusted the thickness to my liking (1/4 inch) and added orange zest and 1/8tsp orange oil to the non-chocolate side. I can see making these with all kinds of flavors on the vanilla side.
They were awesome!!!
Do you think these will freeze well with the cream cheese filling and all?
Super disappointed in this recipe. Despite the changes, the dough was too crumbly to hold a shape. I had to throw most of the batch in the trash.
Oh my goodness, if I wasn’t already making black-and-white cookies for our themed mishloach manot I would be all over these! Bookmarking for next year (or maybe next month)
This dough turned out perfectly for me. Followed the recipe to the letter using a food processor, and it was delicious raw (my kids demanded a taste test) as well as baked. Everything stayed nicely zipped up. For kicks, I used a different filling — Joan Nathan’s chocolate chip pastry cream — which worked very well. Thank you, Deb!