Traditional Poppy Seed Mohn Hamantaschen Recipes

POPPYSEED HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• For the filling: Finely grind the poppy seeds, in batches if necessary, in a spice or coffee grinder. Transfer to a small saucepan and stir in the almond milk, sugar, honey, vanilla, salt and lemon zest and juice. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring often, until thick and jammy (if you draw a spoon across the bottom of the pan, you will see a line), 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely. (You can refrigerate to expedite the process.)
• For the dough: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the coconut oil and sugar in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and 2 of the eggs, then beat until very smooth, about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat on medium-low just until the dough comes together and cleans the side of the bowl. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill until the dough firms up enough to be rolled but is not so cold that it will crack, about 15 minutes. (You can make the dough ahead and refrigerate, but let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so before rolling.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Beat the remaining egg with a splash of water. Cut the dough in half. Roll one piece on a floured work surface to about 1/8-inch thick. Use a 3-inch ring cutter to cut out as many circles as you can, saving the scraps. To form the hamantaschen, brush a circle with the egg wash and dollop about a teaspoon of filling in the center. Fold the dough up into 3 corners to form a triangle with the filling exposed in the middle. (Don't worry if the hamantaschen don't look completely full at this point; the filling expands as it bakes.) Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining circles and dough half, rerolling the scraps once, if desired.
• Have your sprinkles standing by. Brush the hamantaschen with the egg wash (just the dough, not the filling). Bake, rotating the trays from top to bottom halfway through baking, until the filling is bubbly and the dough is set and light golden, about 12 minutes. While the filling is still hot, top with the sprinkles. Let cool before serving.

HAMANTASCHEN WITH POPPY SEED FILLING

Steps:

• Put the confectioners' sugar and the egg yolks in a food processor and blend. Add butter and lemon zest and process to blend. Gradually add the flour and the salt, pulsing until it forms a ball. Divide the dough in half, flatten each into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Put milk, sugar and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat. Grind poppy seeds to a fine powder in coffee grinder, taking care not to over-process to a paste. When milk mixture is warm, turn heat to low and add poppy seeds and raisins. Cook at a low simmer stirring frequently until the seeds absorb the milk and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice, brandy, orange liqueur and butter. Stir and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the vanilla extract, remove from the heat and let cool completely, or chill until needed, up to 3 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Unwrap one of the chilled dough disks and place on a piece of parchment paper that has been dusted lightly with flour. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour. Cover with a second piece of parchment paper. Let stand at room temperature until malleable, about 5 minutes. Use a rolling pin to press and roll out the dough into a 1/4-inch- thick round between the sheets of parchment, flipping the dough occasionally. Use a plain biscuit or cookie cutter or glass to cut 3-inch circles, placing the circles on the prepared baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator to chill until firm while you repeat the rolling/cutting process with the second round of dough.
• Remove the first pan of dough rounds from the refrigerator. Place a heaping teaspoon of the filling in the center of each, and press up the sides to form triangles, pinching the ends closed. If the dough is too firm, let stand a minute or two to soften; returning the baking sheet to the refrigerator if the dough becomes too soft. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds.
• Brush the tops with beaten egg. Bake until golden and dough is delicately firm all the way through, about 13-18 minutes, rotating the racks front to back and top to bottom after about 10 minutes.
• Place trays on wire racks for 10 minutes before transferring cookies on parchment to racks to cool completely.

HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Cut in margarine with 2 knives or a pastry blender. Add eggs and vanilla extract; mix well until dough comes together and is smooth. If dough is sticky, add more flour.
• Roll out dough on floured work surface until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Press the rim of a glass into flour and then into the dough to cut out circles.
• Place 1/2 teaspoon filling into the center of each circle. Fold up the 3 sides into a triangle shape, pinching the sides together tightly to seal. Transfer cookies to baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

CARAMELIZED ONION AND POPPY SEED HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add 9 tablespoons butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and the egg yolk and pulse, adding 2 to 3 tablespoons or so of ice water if needed to form a soft dough. Wrap the dough in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a medium nonstick pan over medium-low. Add the onion, thyme, bay leaf and honey, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in the poppy seeds and the remaining 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and season to taste. Let cool.
• Remove the dough from the fridge, heat the oven to 375 degrees and cover 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough onto a floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch round mold or glass, cut the dough into rounds. Top each round with a hefty pinch of cheese in the center, then a heaping teaspoon of the cooled onion mixture. Working with one round at a time, dip a pastry brush or your finger into the egg white and moisten the edges of the excess dough surrounding the filling. Fold up 3 sides of the round to form a triangle, partly covering the filling with the dough, and pinch the dough firmly at all 3 tips of the triangle. Transfer to the parchment-lined baking sheets and repeat to make about 36 hamantaschen.
• Bake until golden, rotating midway through baking, 15 to 20 minutes, then serve warm.

POPPY SEED FILLING FOR HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Grind poppy seeds in food processor or spice grinder.
• Combine with the milk and honey.
• Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick.
• Stir in the lemon rind and raisins.
• Cool before filling the Hamantaschen dough.

ALL-THE-SEEDS HAMANTASCHEN

Steps:

• Dough
• Whisk baking powder, salt, and 1½ cups (188 g) flour in a medium bowl to combine. Set aside. Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and orange zest and beat, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, just until combined. Reduce speed to low and with motor running, gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until dough comes together and no streaks of dry flour remain.
• Divide dough in half and place each half on a piece of beeswax or plastic wrap. Pat into a 1"-thick disk. Wrap tightly and chill until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
• Filling
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Mix pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, ¼ cup poppy seeds, and ¼ cup sesame seeds in a medium heatproof bowl. Heat honey in a small saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally with a heatproof rubber spatula, until it bubbles and foams and turns dark amber (an instant read thermometer should register 300°F), about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in tahini and ¾ tsp. salt. Pour over seeds and stir to coat. Let cool slightly (you want the mixture to be as hot as possible since it hardens as it cools, but not so hot you could burn your hands). Working quickly, scoop out heaping teaspoonfuls of filling and roll into 24 balls.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a scant ¼" thick. Punch out cookies with cutter. Transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. (You should ideally have 12 cookies per baking sheet.) They won't spread, so don't worry about getting them close. Gather up and reroll any scraps.
• Beat egg with 1 Tbsp. water and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Working one at a time, brush rounds with egg wash and place a ball of filling in the center. Fold sides of dough up to make a triangle, pinching corners to seal. Brush sides of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with more sesame seeds and poppy seeds.
• Bake hamantaschen, rotating pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until crust is golden brown and filling is puffed, 18-22 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
• Do ahead: Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.