When I was a child, my mother made hamantaschen for Purim from an elegant dough that involved butter, chilling, and a hint of orange zest—definitely a gourmet recipe (likely from Gourmet magazine). Her fillings were traditional: prune and, when we were lucky, apricot jam. At the same time, family friends used to send us a box of hamantaschen every year. Those cookies needed to survive a long trip through the mail from Minnesota to Texas, so they were sturdier than my mother’s delicate versions. They also included unexpected flavors—CHOCOLATE and COCONUT—which thrilled eight-year-old me.
As an adult, I can now appreciate my mother’s tender dough and might even enjoy a prune filling. Still, after thirty years, I can’t imagine choosing prune over chocolate. One of the perks of being grown-up is baking what I want to eat. Last year I made espresso shortbread hamantaschen filled with Nutella from an online recipe. They were good, but this year I wanted a crisper cookie with a sharper espresso presence and to use some of the 3-pound bag of hazelnut meal I’d impulse-bought months before. A little searching led me to the Washington Post’s food section and an almond-hamantaschen recipe that felt ready to adapt.
The result matched my hopes: a slightly crisp hamantaschen with clear hazelnut and espresso notes—and, of course, Nutella in the center.
This isn’t the simplest hamantaschen dough to handle. The dough itself is easy to mix, but it becomes very soft and sticky if it’s not adequately chilled. The keys to success are thoroughly chilling the dough, being generous with flour while rolling, and keeping a bench scraper close at hand.
Espresso-Hazelnut Hamantaschen with Nutella
This espresso-hazelnut hamantaschen dough is adapted from a Washington Post almond-hamantaschen recipe. Be liberal with flour when rolling the dough and keep a bench scraper nearby to help lift and move the dough.
Ingredients
-
140
g
all-purpose flour
(plus extra for rolling the dough) -
56
g
sugar -
56
g
hazelnut meal or finely ground hazelnuts -
small pinch of
salt -
1
tbsp
finely ground espresso beans -
113
g (8 tbsp)
cold unsalted butter
cut into small pieces -
1
large egg -
1
tbsp
heavy cream -
3/4
cup
Nutella or another chocolate-hazelnut spread
Instructions
-
Combine the flour, sugar, hazelnut meal, finely ground espresso beans, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and the butter is well distributed.
-
Lightly beat the egg. Add the egg and the heavy cream to the food processor and pulse just until the dough begins to come together into a ball.
-
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a few times to bring it together.
-
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk about 1 inch thick. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the unused half in the refrigerator. Turn the portion you’re working with onto a well-floured surface. Flour your rolling pin and keep a bench scraper handy.
-
Roll the dough as thin as you can—aim for about 1/16 inch. As you roll, use the bench scraper to lift the dough periodically; if it sticks, add more flour beneath it.
-
Cut 3-inch circles from the dough and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Use the bench scraper to help lift the circles if needed.
-
Place about a teaspoon of Nutella in the center of each circle. Lift and pinch the edges in three evenly spaced places to form a triangle, pressing the corners together firmly so they hold their shape while baking.
-
Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes, until the corners begin to show a light golden-brown color.
-
Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
-
Repeat the rolling, cutting, and baking with the remaining dough.
Recipe Notes
The dough is easy to prepare but can be finicky to handle. The original recipe recommended chilling the dough for 30 minutes before rolling, but I found that 30 minutes wasn’t enough—the dough stayed too soft and sticky. If you don’t have two hours to chill in the fridge, try refrigerating and then giving the disk about 10–15 minutes in the freezer to firm it up. Even well-chilled, expect to use more flour than feels necessary when rolling. The bench scraper will be useful for lifting and transferring circles.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can use room-temperature butter. Cream the butter with the sugar, add the egg and cream, then mix in the dry ingredients. That method may require a slightly longer chill time before rolling.
You likely won’t need the entire 3/4 cup of Nutella for filling—any leftover spread keeps well and can be used elsewhere.