Peanut Butter & Jelly Hamantaschen

It’s almost Purim, party people! Get ready to dress up, drink up, and eat cookies- all my favorite things to do.

February isn’t just the month of Valentine’s this year, it’s also the month of Purim.

A little background context for my readers who don’t celebrate: Purim, which literally means “lots” and is sometimes known as the Feast of Lots, is the Jewish holiday where Jews commemorate being saved from persecution in the ancient Persian Empire. It’s held on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, and this year that’s on the 25th of February!

Purim commemorates the day Esther, Queen of Persia, saved the Jewish from execution by Haman, the advisor to the Persian king, so there’s definitely a lot to celebrate. It’s a little bit of Mardi Gras, Easter, and Halloween all rolled into one. Mandatory alcohol-drinking and lots of food included. Needless to say, it’s a fave holiday.

Speaking of food, one of my favorite Purim treats is hamantaschen: triangle-shaped cookie pastries with fruit or savory filling. Hamantaschen are shaped to look like Haman’s (google him, if you dare) tri-cornered hat or his ears and my mom and I used to bake trays and trays of them because one tray was never enough.

These triangular cookies are usually filled with different flavors of jam or a poppy seed filling known as “mohn”. While I love and grew up on the classic hamantaschen, I decided to mix things up a little bit and experiment with different fillings.

I’m happy to announce that my Peanut butter and Jelly Hamantaschen passed the test!

Nothing beats the classic, but this Peanut Butter and Jelly Hamantaschen recipe is a great (and delicious!) alternative.

PB & J Hamantaschen

Author: Micah Siva
Makes 20-24 cookies

Prep time: 30 minutes
Rest time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15-30 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough:

• ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
• ⅔ cup cane sugar
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg + 1 egg white, yolk reserved
• 3 ¼ cup all purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

Filling:

• ¼ cup peanuts, chopped
• ½ cup natural peanut butter
• ⅓ cup raspberry or strawberry jam
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Egg wash:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp water

Preparation:

1. In a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until fluffy.
2. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time until incorporated.
3. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add to the butter and egg mixture until a dough forms.
4. Remove from the mixing bowl, and form into a disc. Wrap tightly in cling film, and let rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line 3 trays with baking paper.
6. Whisk together reserved egg yolk and water to make the egg wash.
7. Meanwhile, make the filling.
8. Add peanuts, peanut butter, jam, and vanilla to a small bowl, mixing to combine.
9. Generously flour a work surface, and roll dough until it is ¼ inch thick. You may want to do this in batches of 2-3 portions of dough.
10. Use a glass or round cookie cutter to cut 3 ½ inch rounds. Transfer to the baking tray.
11. Add ½ tbsp peanut filling in the middle of each circle. Brush the egg wash around the filling.
12. Fold the dough into a triangle, pinching the edges tightly. Brush lightly with more egg wash.
13. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until golden.
14. Transfer to a cooling rack.
15. Enjoy!