page_title: Hamantash
section_title: Preparation
hierarchical_section_title: Hamantash / Preparation
caption_attribution_description: English: A photo of my mohn (poppyseed) hamantaschen being made
context_page_description: A hamantash is an Ashkenazi Jewish triangular filled-pocket cookie, usually associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim. The name refers to Haman, the villain in the Purim story. In Hebrew, hamantashen are known as אוזני המן, oznei Haman, literally 'Haman's ears'.
  The shape is achieved by folding in the sides of a circular piece of dough similar to a shortbread, with a filling placed in the center. Hamantashen are made with many different fillings, which are traditionally sweet, including mohn, lekvar, nut, date, apricot, raspberry, raisins, apple, vanilla pastry cream with chocolate chips cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, or even caramel or cheese. Their formation varies from hard similar to a shortbread to soft doughy casings.
context_section_description: Sweet hamantaschen are typically made with a dough containing butter or, less-commonly a pareve dough containing oil. Depending on the ingredients used in the dough, the consistency of the finished hamantaschen can range from dry and crumbly like to a shortbread, to soft and cakey like a black and white cookie, to firm and crisp like a butter cookie. The dough is generally prepared with flour, eggs, sugar, butter (or margarine or cooking oil), and a flavoring such as vanilla (or sometimes cocoa, rose water, or orange blossom water may be used); sometimes milk is used in the dough, and sometimes a leavener such as baking powder or baking soda is added as well. The dough is then mixed gently so as to incorporate all the ingredients together but not make the dough tough and give the hamantaschen an inferior texture.
  The dough is allowed to rest in the refrigerator and is then removed and rolled out to a thickness of between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch; rounds of dough are stamped out and are often brushed with an egg wash to encourage sealing prior to the addition of the filling. The most popular filling is poppyseed, but apricot, prune, strawberry, raspberry, chocolate, peanut butter and jelly, and others are also common. The bottom and the top two corners of the dough are folded inward but do not fully enclose the filling, allowing it to remain visible. Sometimes hamantaschen may be frozen for a short period of time after shaping in order to prevent leakage of the filling. Then they are baked in an oven at medium heat for a short duration of time. Sometimes after baking hamantaschen may be dusted with confectioner's sugar, dipped in melted chocolate, or topped with sprinkles.
  Savory hamantaschen are prepared in much the same way as sweet hamantaschen, with the exception of the fillings; and they are generally made with a different dough, such one similar to a pie crust or puff pastry, or a modified sweet hamantaschen dough containing less sugar.
caption: Poppy seed hamantaschen prior to baking.
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