Mrs.Shapiro’s Yeast Hamantaschen with Poppyseed Filling

My friend, Anna Shapiro z’l. sadly passed away a few months ago. She was an inspiration to me in many ways. In the kitchen she was a Maven,  which means she was an expert. She was an expert in the kitchen & in life. Anna taught me so much about many things. I miss her & loved watching the videos attached in this post. She was generous with her time & knowledge & love. Always happy to be videoed & then featured on this blog. There are a few videos of her on my YouTube channel if you are interested in seeing her make some delicious dishes.  This is the original post from 2018 with a few edits.

I made over 300 Hamantaschen with my friend Rhonda which we give away..we don’t eat them all!! Then I made more on my own for my family….then I made some on the weekend with my great nieces, nephews & a few other young people ..this was fantastic. I have been having them over to bake Hamantaschen for maybe 4-5 years now & I am so happy that they want to come & bake with me! I thought I was finished making Hamantaschen but I was wrong.

Yesterday I spent some time with a wonderful woman,Mrs. Shapiro. She told me that she made some yeast Hamantaschen. …so of course I asked her to show me how & if we could make them together. She was totally good with that so that is why I made Hamantaschen again!!

The recipe is uses a slightly sweet yeast dough &  which are then filled with a poppy-seed filling. She always makes her filling with whatever she has around..but we managed to right down a recipe for this blog! Also about the dough …I think she usually ‘wings’ its but we measured everything!

The dough is one that Mrs Shapiro uses for everything I think…she just adjusts the amount of sugar depending on what she is making. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to yeast dough & she used a lot more yeast than any recipe I have seen for dough…so I am going to write out what she does for you.

Here is the recipe

Dough

1/2 cup warm water…not too hot…just a bit warmer than room temperature she says

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp yeast

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 cup oil ** a drop less then 1/8 cup !

1/2 cup water, not cold, not hot. tepid

3-4 heaping cups of flour *** the amount is clarified in the method section

Filling

1 1/2 cup ground poppy-seeds

1/4 cup orange juice or milk *** we used orange juice so that these are parve but use the milk if it does not matter

1 tbsp honey

1/2 cup sugar..*** taste after adding the fruit & adjust the sugar or honey to suit your taste…how sweet you want the filling. We like it sweet since the dough isn’t too sweet

2 handfuls of raisins

Note that today Mrs Shapiro told me she didn’t put fruit in her new batch today .. so if you want them more ‘ poppyseed’ leave the prunes and the apricots out!

6 prunes  OPTIONAL

6 apricots OPTIONAL

Egg Wash

1 egg, beaten

Cinnamon Sugar to sprinkle on top before baking…just mix some white sugar with cinnamon

Note: I have written this out exactly as Anna explained it and told me how to make these.

Method  *** the method part is long but it is just mostly explaining…it is not a hard thing to make

1. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water… sprinkle the yeast on top & give it a stir. Set aside to start to ‘grow’ *** we are not going to leave it sit for as long as I thought it has to sit… haha….she just uses it when she is ready for it & when the yeast has started to work
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, sugar & oil together
3. If the yeast has started to dissolve in the water, give it stir & dump it in the bowl. If it has not dissolved yet wait a bit longer
4. Add the flour, start with 3 cups… stir gently…almost folding the contents of the bowl… Anna says not to kill the yeast…be gentle… the dough will be wet
5. Now add the next cup of flour & mix well. You can mix a bit tougher now.
6. The dough should be soft but not sticky..
7. Turn the dough our onto a lightly floured board
8. If you have to add flour to it by putting flour on your hands & knead the dough
9. So , you have to knead the dough until it is a soft not sticky dough….  I have a short video clip of Mrs Shapiro kneading the dough..she does not really like the way I do it…. :))
10. When your dough is ready…. & I apologize for not being able to tell you how you will know when the dough is done except to say that it will be smooth, not sticky & it will feel soft & wonderful
11. Very lightly grease a bowl & put the dough into the bowl. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that there is a light coating of oil on the dough so it won’t stick to the bowl…. Mrs. Shapiro also just flours the bowl & dough so it won’t stick to the bowl sometimes too.. I do not know how she decides which method to use!
12. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & a plate & let this rise to about double..so we let it rise for 35 -45 min…lots of yeast I guess so it does not take long? Mrs Shapiro puts her oven on low while she is making the dough..then turns it off & puts the dough in the oven to rise…just make sure your oven is not too hot or it will kill the yeast, If your kitchen is warm then you do not have to rise in the oven or if your oven has a proof function you can use that.
13. Now, while the dough is rising make the filling
14. Grind the poppy seeds, we used a small coffee bean grinder..empty the ground poppy-seeds into a bowl
15. Add the orange juice or milk & stir… let this sit for a bit… the poppy seeds seem to absorb the liquid *** use the orange juice if you want these parve
16. If you want to use the dried fruit….Put the dried fruit into the bowl of your food processor & pulse until well ground…
17. Now, you can add the soaked ground poppy seeds to the food processor bowl & pulse a few times to combine it all OR you can put the ground fruit into the bowl with the poppy-seeds & mix it really well…taste & adjust the flavour… add more sugar/honey or dried fruit to suit your personal taste
18. Ok, now we put it all together…
19. When your dough is ready…and it just has to rise some..not as much as if you are making bread..
20. Turn the dough out onto a floured board & knead the dough a couple of times…do not overdo it
21. Roughly form into a longish log…i would say the log was about 3 inches in diameter ‘ish’
22. Cut the dough into pieces…see the picture below to see the size of pieces… they were about 1 1/2 inches wide
23. We had 12 pieces & dough left over that we made into a poppy-seed strudel but certainly you can make all the dough into Hamantashen
24. So now, using your hands you squish the cut pieces of dough flat….into a circle about 3 inches big…
25. Put approx a heaping teaspoon full of filling on each circle…If you are making a strudel …just make 12 triangles & leave the rest of the dough & filling for the strudel 
26. Now form the triangle…see the video clip below….pinch the dough together… there can’t be any of the  filling leaking out… now Mrs Shapiro gently puts the pinched side of the triangle into flour & puts them seam side down on the prepared baking sheet TIP: Mrs Shapiro says that dipping the seam side into the flour keeps it together so it does not open up & filling does not leak out
27. If you are making a strudel… roll the left over dough into a rectangle..it will be about 12x 8…but I was unable to measure it..
28. Now we are going to let these rise again… put your oven on at this point to 350f & while your oven is preheating, you will let these beauties rise…NOTE: if you make a strudel take a toothpick & poke holes in the strudel down the center to let the steam escape…you will see the holes in the picture below 
29. Brush the triangles & strudel ( if you made one) with the beaten egg
30. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar….
31. When your oven is preheated…Put the baking tray into the oven & bake for about 25 minutes.. check them after 25 minutes & bake longer if needed…
32. Take them off of the tray & put onto a cooling rack to cool completely before eating because the filling is hot!

Enjoy!

THE VIDEOS ARE OF MRS. ANNA  SHAPIRO… SHE IS A FRIEND OF MINE WHO HAS TAUGHT ME WONDERFUL THINGS IN THE KITCHEN & CONTINUESS TO DO SO!