Even if you haven’t celebrated Purim since you were in Jewish day school 20 years ago, it’s a great excuse to treat yourself to something delicious, specifically hamantaschen! However, jam and chocolate-filled pastries are a bit on the boring side, so I’ve pulled together 10 of the very best (and most unique) sweet and savory hamantaschen recipes that us grown-ups can appreciate. Plus, you’ll get on-point drink pairings – after all, what is a holiday without drinks?
Click the links below to get the recipes for these tasty Purim treats. (Bonus: Many of these recipes come from great kosher cooking websites!)
Sweet
Sweet hamantaschen are a must-have for any Purim celebration. Mix things up with these delightful flavor combinations:
- Red Velvet Hamantaschens with Champagne Raspberry Cocktail. Paired together because of the vibrant red colors.
- Dunkaroo Hamantaschens with Blackberry Lemonade White Wine Sangria. Paired together because rich Dunkaroos are perfectly balanced by the refreshing taste of white wine sangria.
- Rice Krispie Treat Hamantaschens with Sparkling French Martini. Paired together because of the sparkle factor.
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hamantaschens with Champagne and Strawberry Slices. Paired together for obvious reasons…strawberries.
- Girl Scout Samoa Hamantaschens with Cherry Collins. Paired together because the gin, lemon and soda water is utterly refreshing with the cookie flavor.
Savory
Too many sweets will leave you with a sugar hangover. Balance it out with some of these tasty savory hamantaschen recipes:
- Cheddar Biscuit Hamantaschens with Chambord and Ginger Beer Cocktail. Paired together because biscuits and beer is always a winning combination.
- Deli Hamantaschens with Adult Dark Cherry Cream Soda. Paired together because all of my memories going to a deli growing up consisted of me drinking Dr. Browns cream soda or root beer.
- Pulled BBQ Brisket Hamantaschens with Earl Grey Ginger Spritzer. Paired together because BBQ brisket can be hearty, so it washes down well with a light spritzer.
- Mediterranean Style Hamantaschens with Sauvignon Blanc. Paired together because the lightness of Mediterranean fare mixed with the crispness of Sauvignon Blanc is simply delicious.
- Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Hamantaschens with Homemade Ginger Ale. Paired together because I, personally, enjoy carbonation with my cream cheese bagels, and this just sounds like a good little treat.
Purim Party Ideas
This year, rather than letting the holiday come and go without even a notice, invite your friends over and serve up some of these fun recipes and drinks. Here are a few ideas for some ways to spice things up:
- Ask each of your guests to bring a single friend of theirs. It’s a fun twist on a singles’ party mix and mingle. Remember the “used date” party from “Sex and the City?”
- Encourage guests to dress up. It can be a full-blown costume party or you can just provide colorful masks for something simple and easy.
- Make it a cooking party. Have guests contribute ingredients for your hamantaschen fillings, then provide the pastry dough yourself. Try out different recipes and make it into a tasting party. You could even cast votes for who made the best version and give a prize to the winner.
While you might not be dressing up as Queen Esther or Mordecai like you did back in your Solomon Schechter days, you can still have a Purim party – because when is a party ever a bad idea? Happy Purim!
