Birthday Cake Hamantaschen
Purim is an early spring holiday celebrating the Jewish people being saved from Haman. Haman is the antagonist in the story of Queen Esther who saved her people from being killed by the evil Haman. The story is detailed in the Biblical Book of Esther. Queen Esther it seems, is the first woman to define “Girl Boss”!
Around the late 1500s, German Jews dubbed the filled triangle shaped cookies Hamantaschen, or "Haman's hat." The Hamantaschen are eaten to commemorate his downfall.
Hamantaschen Cookies are usually filled with fruit or ground poppy seeds. But we took a different spin on the traditional with our easy Birthday Cake Hamantaschen!
Inspired by your favorite birthday cake, this recipe uses simple ingredients you may already have in your pantry like cake mix, flour, vanilla, eggs and oil. The best part is that there is no need to rest the dough or chill the formed cookies before they bake!
To make the Birthday Cake Hamantaschen, beat the eggs, extract and oil together. In a larger bowl, combine the cake mix and flour, then add the wet ingredients, forming a dough. Add the melted chocolate. Add more oil to moisten the dough if needed. The cookie dough should be very thick. Fold in some fun sprinkles.
Next, on a lightly floured surface, roll the cookie dough to about ¼ - 1/8” in thickness. Cut the dough using a circle cookie cutter as shown below. With this thick dough, you can re-roll scraps once and add oil by the teaspoon if needed to moisten. After that, bake cookies in a simple circle or discard.
Place the cookies a few inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Pinch the edges to form a triangle or the classic Hamantaschen shape. Create a deep well in each cookie to fill the centers after they bake. Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake.
Cool the cookies on the baking sheets and carefully reshape the cookies as they are cooling. With a wide spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
For the decoration, pour the melted chocolate in the center of the cookie by the teaspoonful. We split the cookies up, 12 with dark chocolate and 12 using the white chocolate. Shape the chocolate with the toothpick to follow the outline of the inside well in a triangle. It should begin to set immediately. Add the sprinkles as the chocolate is setting. If you have chocolate left over, drizzle it over the cookies once the centers have set.
You can change up the recipe with different flavored cake mix, chocolate, chocolate chips or theme sprinkles. The Birthday Cake Hamantaschen do not require any special tools. They are easy for a beginner or intermediate baker.
Birthday Cake Hamantaschen
ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
- ½ cup of vegetable oil, plus more as needed
- 1 box (15.25 oz.) of white or French vanilla cake mix
- ¾ cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup of melted white chocolate
- Sprinkles or non-pareils
- 1 cup of each melted white and dark chocolate disks
- 1 toothpick
- Sprinkles or non-pareils
instructions:
How to cook Birthday Cake Hamantaschen
- Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a 2-cup sprouted glass measuring cup, beat the eggs, extract and oil together. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and flour, then add the wet ingredients, forming a dough. Add the melted chocolate and stir. Add more oil to moisten the dough if needed, a teaspoon at a time. The dough should be thick. Fold in the sprinkles.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ¼ - 1/8” in thickness as desired. Cut the dough using a 3” circle cookie cutter. With this thick cookie, dough, we only recommend re-rolling the dough once and add oil by the teaspoon if needed to moisten.
- Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. Pinch the edges to form a triangle. Create a well in each cookie as shown to fill after they bake. Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Carefully reshape the cookies as they are cooling. With a wide spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
- For the decoration: pour the melted chocolate in the center of the cookie by the teaspoonful, 12 cookies white chocolate and 12 cookies dark chocolate. Shape the chocolate with the toothpick to follow the outline of the inside well in a triangle. Add the sprinkles as the chocolate is setting.
NOTES:
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