creme brulee hamantaschen is the mash up you didn’t know you needed!

Do something a little different this Purim and make these beautiful and so delicious creme brulee hamantaschen!

do you make hamantaschen?

Purim begins next Monday night, and if you’ve been following me for a while you know I love riffing on the dessert most closely associated with this holiday – hamantaschen!

You can read this post on the connection of hamantaschen to Purim, and if your only experience with this cookie is the (way too) large and (way too often) dry versions sold in the supermarket, then you are in for a treat!

I love a good mash up!

Much like popsicles and muddy buddies, hamantaschen lends itself so beautifully to all kinds of “improvisation” – from the dough to the filling and even the topping. And while you can’t beat the classics – apricot, poppy seed and prune – I’ve had so much fun over the years testing out some of my favorite flavors.

creme brulee hamantaschen eluded me……….

One of my favorite doughnuts is the creme brulee doughnut from Doughnut Plant – a vanilla bean cream-filled doughnut with a “brulee” topping that is just THE BEST. The flavors of this classic dessert are perfectly captured in doughnut form, and I just knew that those same flavors would be adorable in some little hamantaschen.

I just couldn’t seem to figure out how to accomplish what was in my head, so I distracted myself over the years with other variations like triple chocolate, s’mores and fluffernutter.

this was the year!

That said, this year I was determined to execute this recipe, and I’m delighted to say that these hamantaschen taste just like creme brulee in cookie form! Yay!

what ingredients do you need?

I HIGHLY recommend making your own vanilla bean filling for this recipe – it’s not hard at all and the leftover filling is delicious all on its own. That said, you can also whip up a box of instant vanilla pudding if you prefer. Here’s what you’ll need for these hamantaschen:

granulated sugar
cornstarch
kosher salt
heavy cream
whole milk
vanilla extract
unsalted butter
vanilla bean
cream cheese
eggs
flour

how do you make them?

You’ll start by making the vanilla bean filling, as it needs several hours of chill time in the fridge.

The dough comes together quickly in one bowl, and you’ll then roll it out between sheets of parchment paper and pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Cut out circles and re-roll the scraps till the dough is all used up.

Place 1/2 teaspoon of filling into the center of each circle, and pinch the sides and bottom closed to form a triangle. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sugar and freeze for several hours, or overnight.

Bake the hamantaschen and cool completely.

For the “brulee”, you’ll make a dry caramel by cooking down granulated sugar until it liquefies and turns amber brown. Pour into the center of each cooled hamantaschen, and let it run a bit over the sides. Let harden and serve with spoons for cracking!

my tips for perfect hamantaschen – every time!

Blobby, misshapen and exploding hamantaschen are no fun for anyone. But after years of trial and error (and lots of blobby hamantaschen) here are my top 5 tips, regardless of the hamantaschen recipe, for perfect results:

1. Roll the dough to about 1/4″ thickness – this will seem too thick but a thinner dough will not hold its shape as well.

2. Use only about 1/2 teaspoon of filling per cookie – again, this will seem wrong, like, how can this possibly be enough? Well, here’s the thing: as the cookies bake, the filling expands and pushes the sides of the dough that you’ve so carefully and painstakingly pinched and shaped. The more filling, the more misshapen the finished cookie will be. If you don’t care about the look, and want more filling, you can go up to one teaspoon. But your hamantaschen will likely not be as pretty.

3. Pinch the cookies closed almost completely shut. If you look at the pictures of the formed cookies here, you can see how “open” they are – and when I went to bake off one (as I always do when trying a new recipe), it opened up and looked terrible. I pinched the others closed before baking and the results were much better. Here’s a picture – from my triple chocolate hamantaschen – that show how “closed” the cookies should be. Trust me on this, it will result in the prettiest cookies.

4. Glue those suckers SHUT – an egg wash is essential to seal the sides, so think of it as extra insurance.

5. Freeze before baking – after the egg wash “glue”, stick your tray in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (or up to overnight). This will pretty much ensure that your cookies stay intact once placed in the oven.

Let me know if you try them!

Creme Brulee Hamantaschen

sherisilver

A classic dessert reimagined in hamantaschen cookies - perfect for Purim!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 50 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dessert

Servings 20

Equipment

• whisk
• measuring cup
• small saucepan
• hand mixer
• Rolling Pin
• Sheet pans
• pre-cut parchment sheets
• round cookie cutters
• pastry brush
• small heatproof spatula

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the vanilla bean filling:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 1/4 cups cold whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped

For the hamantaschen dough:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the brulee topping:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Instructions

 

Make the vanilla bean filling:

• Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in half the heavy cream, while whisking continuously to dissolve the dry ingredients. Slowly pour in the remaining cream, whisking continuously.
• Slowly pour the milk into the bowl, whisking continuously, making sure that the dry ingredients are completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and clean and wipe the bowl.
• Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and making sure to scrape along the sides and bottom. When the mixture comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and continue stirring for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, butter and vanilla bean seeds.
• Pour the mixture back into your now-clean bowl, place plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.

Make the hamantaschen dough:

• Beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar till fluffy. Add one egg, the vanilla and salt – beat again. Add the flour and beat just till incorporated. Separate the dough into two halves and place each between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll each dough to about 1/4″ thickness. Stack the doughs on a baking sheet or cutting board and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to three days.

Make the hamantaschen:

• Beat the remaining egg with one tablespoon of water.
• Working with one dough at a time, place on a baking sheet and remove the top piece of parchment paper. Cut out circles with a drinking glass or cookie cutter (I used a 2 1/2″ cutter here). Remove the trimmings and keep re-rolling and cutting till all the dough is used up. Repeat with the other dough and a second baking sheet.
• Place 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla bean filling into the center of each circle. Fold the dough into a triangle shape and pinch the corners firmly together to almost completely close the cookie. Brush the tops of the cookies with a little of the beaten egg and sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Freeze for several hours, ideally overnight.
• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 10 minutes or till light golden brown. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.

Make the brulee topping:

• Place the sugar in a small saucepan and heat, undisturbed, over medium-high heat. Once the sugar begins to liquify around the edges, start moving that liquid into the dry sugar, and begin stirring with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Continue stirring until almost all of the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and continue stirring until no more dry sugar remains. Immediately pour the caramel over the center of each cookie, letting it run over the sides. Let the caramel harden completely before serving.

Notes

You can substitute boxed vanilla pudding for the vanilla bean filling if you prefer.

Keywords cookies, creme brulee, hamantaschen, purim, vanilla pudding

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About the author

Sheri Silver

Sheri Silver is a New York-based food photographer and recipe developer who has been cooking and baking for over 30 years. She works with brands, authors and restaurants to create recipes that are as beautiful as they are foolproof - and every recipe on this blog has been made, tweaked and eaten in her own kitchen.

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