6 Hamantaschen Tips for Purim

When Purim rolls around, there’s one thing you should absolutely be making: hamantaschen. In 2025, Purim begins at sundown on Thursday, March 13 and ends at nightfall on Friday, March 14. This holiday is all about merriment, says IACP Award-winning cookbook author and The Jewish Table newsletter author Leah Koenig, who also developed our hamantaschen recipe.

Hamantaschen are a staple of mishloach manot—the food gifts shared with friends during Purim as a way to spread joy—she says. As Leah explains, the triangular cookie has been baked for centuries to celebrate the triumph over Haman, who plotted in Ancient Persia to kill the Jews of the Persian Empire. Originally filled with ground poppy seeds, the recipe has evolved over time to include other fillings such as jam.

We caught up with Leah for expert tips on achieving hamantaschen success on your Hybrid Pizza Steel, which (spoiler alert) might just be the ultimate hamantaschen baking tool.

1. Steel-ing Hearts

While a regular cookie sheet works just fine, Leah loves baking her hamantaschen on the Hybrid Pizza Steel because of its nonstick coating. “You don’t have to use parchment paper to avoid cookies sticking,” she notes. The cookies bake super evenly, she says, with perfectly golden bottoms—a key to great hamantaschen. Plus, the built-in handles make the steel easy to move in and out of the oven.

No need to preheat the pizza steel, Leah says, since you wouldn’t preheat a regular baking sheet, either. And while you could fit the entire batch on the steel at once, Leah prefers baking half at a time. As you fill and fold the remaining cookies, the steel naturally cools down between batches.

2. Egg-ception to the Rule

For her new recipe, Leah opted for an egg-free dough to make the cookies kosher- and vegan-friendly—and was surprised how similarly the dough turned out. “Egg has always been a standard ingredient when I’ve made hamantaschen because that’s how I learned it with my mom,” she says.

Typically, eggs help bind the dough and add tenderness, she says, but she compensates for this change by slightly reducing the amount of flour and sugar. If you’re used to egg-based versions, you might be surprised at how tender these are. The recipe also works just as well with vegan or regular butter—just be sure to use a baking-specific vegan butter, as the tub varieties are formulated to spread (which you definitely don't want in a cookie dough). The same rule applies to milk: If you prefer a dairy-free option, swap in almond milk or another preferred non-dairy liquid.

3. Easy As Pie

If you’ve worked with pie dough before, you already know what hamantaschen dough should feel like. “It’s a roll-out cookie, so you need to have the right texture—almost like a pie crust texture. It has to have some flexibility and durability so it won’t get mushy.” The result? “They’re golden, snappy, tender—everything you want in a hamantasch.” Leah says you’ll know the dough is ready when it clumps together before kneading. That’s your sign it’s good to go.

4. Flour Power

Just like with pie dough, a little flour goes a long way. Leah recommends lightly dusting your rolling pin and cookie cutter before stamping out the circles—this keeps the dough from sticking and ensures clean, precise cuts every time.

5. Fold for Gold

If you’ve made or bought hamantaschen before, you’ve likely encountered the dreaded side collapse. Leah says this happens because classic recipes instruct you to simply fold up the sides and pinch them into a triangle—an approach that doesn’t always hold.

She avoids this with a more foolproof method. “I prefer a different folding method where you fold one side over on an angle and then the other on an angle. Then you fold them up and tuck one side under the little flap you’ve made," she says. This technique helps keep the sides sealed, so your cookies hold their shape from oven to plate.

6. Filling Station

It’s not just the folds that lead to leaky fillings—the filling itself can cause this common hamantaschen pitfall. Thankfully, Leah says the fix is simple: Use a thick jam. While fillings today range from classic ground poppy seed to Nutella hamantaschen, Leah prefers jam. “I love raspberry, strawberry and apricot because they provide a sweet tart contrast to the cookie that’s really nice.”

The key is to avoid anything too runny. “Grape jelly you’d spread on your kid’s PB&J will just leak out,” she says. Blueberry jam isn’t great either due to its high liquid content. To add more body, Leah blends the jam with nuts in a food processor (though you can swap in another nut if you prefer). If you’re nut-free, skip the nuts entirely and go with a simple dollop of jam.

Hungry yet? Get Leah's hamantaschen recipe!