Esther would approve of these tart Ginger Lime Hamantaschen!
It’s that magical time of year again- Purim! Aka the holiday where you are supposed to dress up in costume and get so drunk, you can’t distinguish between Mordechai and Haman. Of course, that’s not the point of the holiday and definitely not the only way to celebrate. And these days if I have more than two pina coladas, I’m hungover for a week. Whomp. I’ll save that for our trip to Vegas in a few weeks! But back to Purim. Luckily, we can also celebrate with cookies! Sugar hangovers are definitely a thing but way less painful and don’t involve me spending the day whimpering on the couch re-watching The Bachelor. Last year, inspired by our recent move to Puerto Rico, I made the tropical Papaya Coconut Hamantaschen. I loved the flavor combo so much I went for another fruity variety this year. Lime goes great with ginger, and here we are! I love hamantaschen because they are so versatile, from red velvet to halva! What’s your favorite?
I love this dough because it isn’t dry like normal hamantaschen dough. Dare I say, these are some moist cookies!
Don’t eat raw dough, but if you do by mistake this one is really tasty with the spices and brown sugar and lime! You’re going to need a lot of limes. I totally forgot to photograph just the curd! It’s so beautiful and you can eat this with a spoon. A dollop for each cookie, and fold into triangles. Trick time: I freeze the cookies before baking so they spread slower and don’t open to create hamantaschen blogs. Especially when baking in my hot Puerto Rican kitchen. Works like a charm!
I topped them with a little lime zest for presentation.
Pro tip: eat the ugly ones first, they still taste delicious!
Lime + ginger = new BFFS. Pro tip: these taste extra great warm, so eat out of the oven or pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds or so!
Ginger Lime Hamantaschen
Ingredients
- For hamantaschen dough:
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup aka 4 oz), room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg plus 1 for egg wash
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice about 2-3 limes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground all spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (use 1 tsp if you want a pouffier/softer cookie)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Lime Curd:
- ½ cup fresh lime juice about 10 limes
- 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lime zest plus more for garnish
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ stick 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Instructions
- Make your dough the day before you want your cookies. In a large bowl with a stand or hand mixer, blend butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. You can do it by hand too if you like.
- Then add vanilla, 1 egg and lime juice and zest and combine.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, baking powder and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix by hand just until combined. Dough should be slightly sticky.
- Form dough into a large ball, flatten slightly, wrap with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
- Then, make the lime curd!
- Whisk together lime juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Over low heat, stir in butter a little at a time, whisking often, for about 5-7 minutes or until curd is thick enough to coat the whisk. Careful not to turn the heat too high or the eggs may scramble. If you have some chunks in your curd, strain through a fine mesh strainer.
- Transfer lemon curd to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour or up to 1 week.
- When you are ready to make your hamantaschen, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it thin, about ¼ - ⅛ inch thick. Use a 3 or 3½-inch circle cookie cutter to cut circles in the dough. The top of a wine glass works too! Also helps with the drinking for Purim rule. Roll out the scraps and recut into circles.
- Then take a teaspoon of the curd and put it in the center of each circle. Resist the urge to over-fill.
- Fold two sides together overlapping at the bottom, and then fold the top down to make a triangle. Or pinch together sides.
- Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets and freeze for 30 minutes to prevent spreading.
- Brush with egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden on the bottoms of cookies.
- Cool on a cooling rack, though these are really good warm from the oven too or popped in the microwave for 10 seconds.
Lisa says
Would adding a cup of coconut (like the papaya coconut ones) work, do you think? Ginger lime coconut sounds pretty amazing….
Amy Kritzer says
I think that would work great! Yum!
Marush says
I made these and they were phenomenal. Perfect blend of sweet and tart. I think I only needed 6 limes for both the dough and the curd. The curd took longer (maybe 20 minutes) to thicken up, but I was being overcautious since I’ve never made it before. Fantastic recipe. Very unique and fun.
Marush says
I made these this weekend and they were delicious. I think I only used 6 limes and the lime curd took longer to firm up (maybe 20 minutes) because I was being overcautious since I’ve never made it before. Very good recipe. Different and fun variation for Purim.
Amy Kritzer says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Shari says
Was looking for a recipe using lots of limes as we are living in Nicaragua and our lime tree has been so fruitful!! Hamantaschen has always been one of my favorite Jewish baked goods (and there are so many!!), and your recipe, with this new twist using lots of limes, did not disappoint. Very yummy!! Pastry was light and the curd was perfect! These were fun to make and delicious. Thanks for the Jewish inspired recipes!! Nostalgia at its finest 🙂 Happy to have found your website – will definitely be trying out other recipes!!
Amy Kritzer says
Glad you liked it!!