Strawberries and Cream Hamantaschen
These Strawberries and Cream Hamantaschen are berry delicious! Totally strawsome! Insert fruit pun here!
Strawberrrrry wine, seventeen! Anyone else see strawberries and immediately start belting out the Deana Carter? Just me? Although instead of strawberry wine, it’s Manischewitz duh. Manischewitz, thirteeeennnn!
Speaking of Manischewitz (were we?), my Manischewitz Hamantaschen sort of lead me to these uber delicious strawberries and cream hamantaschen. Here’s how that worked. Mani Hamantaschen were one of my first boozy hamantaschen which lead to Strawberry Champagne Rainbow Hamantaschen. Fun fact, you are supposed to get so drunk on Purim (21+ only please) that you cannot tell the difference between our man Mordechai and the evil Haman. Sign me up!
We also eat haman-ear-shaped hamantaschen cookies on Purim. So why not combine the two and put the booze IN the cookie?! (You’ll love my Bourbon Chocolate Baileys Hamantaschen too! Do I have a problem??)
Annnyhoo. The Strawberry Champagne Rainbow Hamantaschen combines some of my favorite things- pink fruit, sparkling wine, rainbows, and debauchery, so naturally it’s a popular recipe. But I wanted to create a recipe that was even more strawberry focused! I just love pink foods. Strawberries and Cream Hamantaschen were born!
I realized dehydrated strawberries would be a lot of fun to use, and I know fun. (I ordered these dehydrated strawberries, but you can purchase them at most supermarkets too.)
After playing around with a few varieties, I decided to use crushed up pieces in the dough and then essentially a sweet strawberry cream cheese filling to create the best combo. Super strawberry-packed flavor and naturally pink. Strawberries and Cream Hamantaschen are a winner!
How pretty! I managed to control myself and didn’t add superfluous sprinkles, but I won’t stop you. I did sprinkle on some extra strawberries so there’s that.
Hamantaschen Secret Time
Not sure why I am drawing more attention to the secret with the large header font. Did I mention I’m typing this at midnight? I haven’t even started on my Purim drinking, I swear! Any hoo, here are my tips to hamantaschen success. Do not overfill the hamantaschen, 1 tsp is enough for a 3-inch circle! That goes for all hamantaschen. Egg wash is your friend! A bit on the base before filling (for a less sticky filling) and to seal the edges help keep your hamantaschen together. And chill out! I chill my hamantaschen in the freezer for about 20 minutes before baking to prevent spreading. Also, the more baking powder you use the softer the cookie (I hate a dry hard hamantaschen) but it leads to spreading too. So 1/2 – 1 teaspoon is perfect for this size recipe!
Enjoy, bubbalah! Boo haman! Yay strawberries!
Strawberries and Cream Hamantaschen
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (4 oz)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg, plus 1 for egg wash
- 2 tbsps milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons crushed dehydrated strawberries
Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2-2½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp pulverized dehydrated strawberries
- More dehydrated strawberries for garnish!
Instructions
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In a large bowl with a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
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Then add 1 egg, milk and vanilla and mix with the mixer just until combined.
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Then add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix with a spoon (or your hands!) just until combined. Then mix in the dehydrated strawberry pieces. Dough should be slightly sticky.
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Form dough into a ball, flatten and wrap in saran wrap. Chill overnight in the refrigerator or for up to three days.
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When ready to bake, make the filling. Cream together cream cheese, vanilla and salt with a hand mixer. Add in powdered sugar and slowly mix by hand until combined and filling is very thick, adding more sugar if needed. Refrigerate if not using right away.
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Pulverize dehydrated strawberries into a powder and mix 2 tablespoons into the filling until uniform in color.
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Roll dough out dough between 1/4 and 1/8 inch and cut into circles with a 3 or 3 1/2-inch cookie cutter or wine glass.
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Add 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of each circle and fold three sides in overlapping the sides to secure or pinching the edges.
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Place hamantaschen on a parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze for 30 minutes to prevent spreading. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Mix the other egg with 1 teaspoon water. Wash the hamantaschen with egg wash and bake 1-inch apart for 12-15 minutes until slightly brown on the bottom. Cool on a cooling rack.
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Sprinkle with extra strawberry pieces and enjoy!
Notes
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