Hamantash – Spain and Italy
The Hamantash is an Ashkenazi Jewish dessert cookie shaped like a triangular pocket and is connected to Purim, a popular Jewish holiday. Purim centers around a villain named Haman and the name of this cookie is translated into “Haman’s ears.” It is made by rolling out cookie dough, cutting out a small circle and placing in its center a filling made of poppy seeds, chocolate or jam, among other options, and then squeezing the dough into three corners around the dollop so the cookie resembles a triangle with a filling. It is believed to have originated in Spain and Italy.
In earlier years, yeast was used to make the dough for Hamantasch, but baking powder replaced yeast after its creation in the 1840s. Hamantash dough has changed over time from pastry dough to a cookie. Originally, the fillings were poppy seed paste and/or prune jam. Today, the fillings can be dates, raisins, apple, vanilla pastry cream with chocolate chips, cherry, fig, chocolate, dulce de leche, halva, caramel, or cheese.