Captain Crunch Hamantaschen!
In the words of David Rose “I’m a delightful half-half situation”. My whole life I’ve been lucky to celebrate and learn two different sets of religions and traditions. I’ve always connected the most with my Jewish heritage by way of food!
Although I am not religious I love to celebrate holidays for their goodwill, joy, traditions and delicious foods. Making Jewish foods was a favorite for me growing up. I would get one-on-one time with my grandma in the kitchen and she would tell me stories about her family and what holidays looked like for her growing up.
Hamantaschen has been a fun one for me to experiment with for Purim and see what fun cookie I can come up with. I saw this version of an Oreo based one by Lil’ Miss Cakes and decided to use a similar recipe but with Captain Crunch. I think you can probably make my same recipe with any cereal…imagine the possibilities…Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Frosted Flakes. And if you like your cookies even sweeter, try them with a powdered sugar icing! If you try them out, be sure to post a pic to Instagram (or any social media) and tag me!
Table of Contents
What is Hamantashen?
Jewish stuffed triangle cookie. Okay, so that’s not an EXACT definition, but it’s pretty close! I’m not going to try and explain the meaning of this cookie too much since it’s a mystery to me…my friends and even google disagree and tell me it’s shaped like a triangle to represent a hat or an ear. THAT’S A BIG DIFFERENCE GUYS.
Tips for Making Hamantaschen
- Pie Dough: Either use store-bough pie dough, or you can use my recipe for pie dough here.
- Keep it cool: Keep your pie dough cool while you use it. If the pie dough gets warm, be sure to pop the cookies/dough into the refrigerator until cooled and bake then.
- Cool Baking Sheets: Now, you can reuse the parchment paper and of course you can bake using just 1-2 baking sheets. However, before you place dough or bake it, your baking sheets should always be cooled down. This helps with a good bake and keeping those cookies thick.
- Reusing Parchment Paper: Yes! As long as it’s not completely burned, you can and should reuse the parchment paper during a bake, maybe using just 1-2 sheets for all the cookies.
What is Hamantaschen Made Of?
Hamantaschen is a Jewish cookie eaten at Purim. It’s a triangular shaped cookie filled with jams, chocolates, etc. It’s shaped as such to Haman’s ears or his three cornered hat. Haman is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who was a vizier in the Persian empire.
What is Purim?
Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating as the “Feast of Lots”. It’s a festival to celebrate the survival of Jewish people, who were marked for death by their Persian ruler. The story is from the biblical Book of Esther. Yes, yet another holiday celebrated by the Jewish people for surviving oppression. This young woman Esther is the hero of the story, Haman the villain. The story is told both the night before and the day of Purim. Ester is married to King Xerxes, of Persia, who she appeals to to save the Jews from Haman. Haman was a favorite nobleman of Xerxes and had his signet, which allowed him to decree to kill the Jews. However, Esther begged the king to save the Jewish people. And in the end he allows the Jews to fight their enemies. They won and Haman was hung.
There are usually carnival type festivals and celebrations around Purim. People wear costumes, perform plays and stories, etc. Some Jewish people call it the Jewish Mardi Gras.
Ingredients for Hamantaschen Dough:
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 2½ cups flour
- 1/4 cup crushed Captain Crunch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons milk
Ingredients for Captain Crunch cream filling:
- 1 cup crushed Captain Crunch
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
How to make Hamantaschen:
- With a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle grind up about 2 cups of dry Captain Crunch. This should cover what you need for the entire recipe.
- Start your dough by using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer (or handheld whisk). Cream your butter, then add in your sugar. Cream together until well creamed, 4-6 minutes. Add eggs and mix until combined. Then add in vanilla thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, 1/4 cup crushed Captain Crunch, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add into the wet ingredients on a low-medium speed. Once combined, add the milk and stir until your dough has formed.
- Place dough into the fridge while you make the filling (but not for too long as it becomes hard to handle.
- To make your filling use your electric mixer with the whisk attachment (or whisk by hand) and whisk your heavy cream on medium-high until your cream has peaked. Then on a low speed slowly add in 1 cup of your cereal crumbs. Mix until well combined, almost looking like rice krispy treats before they set.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F and remove your dough from the refrigerator.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out your dough about 1/8″ thick. Using a circle cookie cutter or a circular glass cut your dough into circles.
- Using a teaspoon or a 1/2 Tablespoon, scoop a little of the filling and place it in the middle of the circle of dough. Fold up the edges of the dough to make a triangle and pinch the edges together. Lightly sprinkle any extra cereal crumbs on top.
- Using a floured or parchment lined baking sheet, place cookies down, face up and about 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until corners are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet for about 3-5 minutes. Then move to a cooling rack. You can also sprinkle with powder sugar.
- Serve with milk and enjoy!
FAQs about Cereal Hamantaschen
Sure! I haven’t tried it, so I can’t guarantee it, but it should work! Try it and let me know.
You should put them in an air-tight container at room temperature for a week or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Other Recipes to Try
- Quick and Easy Hamantaschen
- Graham Cracker Crumble Soft Butter Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Lucky Charms Cookies
Equipment
- Food processor
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2½ cups flour
- 1/4 cup crushed Captain Crunch cereal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp milk
Captain Crunch Cream Filling
- 1 cup crushed Captain Crunch cereal
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- With a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle grind up about 2 cups of dry Captain Crunch. This should cover what you need for the entire recipe.
- Start your dough by using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer (or handheld whisk). Cream your butter, then add in your sugar. Cream together until well creamed, 4-6 minutes. Add eggs and mix until combined. Then add in vanilla thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, 1/4 cup crushed Captain Crunch, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add into the wet ingredients on a low-medium speed. Once combined, add the milk and stir until your dough has formed.
- Place dough into the fridge while you make the filling (but not for too long as it becomes hard to handle.
- To make your filling use your electric mixer with the whisk attachment (or whisk by hand) and whisk your heavy cream on medium-high until your cream has peaked. Then on a low speed slowly add in 1 cup of your cereal crumbs. Mix until well combined, almost looking like rice krispy treats before they set.
- Preheat your oven to 350° F and remove your dough from the refrigerator.
- On a lightly floured surface roll out your dough about 1/8″ thick. Using a circle cookie cutter or a circular glass cut your dough into circles.
- Using a teaspoon or a 1/2 Tablespoon, scoop a little of the filling and place it in the middle of the circle of dough. Fold up the edges of the dough to make a triangle and pinch the edges together. Lightly sprinkle any extra cereal crumbs on top.
- Using a floured or parchment lined baking sheet, place cookies down, face up and about 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until corners are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet for about 3-5 minutes. Then move to a cooling rack. You can also sprinkle with powder sugar.
- Serve with milk and enjoy!