Hamentashen Smack Down!
Ok, I’m going to come right out and say it. Hamentashen are not my favorite holiday treat. Anything that has prune, date or poppy seed in it’s name is suspect with me. That being said, I still respect the tradition of eating hamentashen at Purim. It is in that spirit that I embarked on a quest for the best hamentashen I could find in the Twin Cities. And because none of you dropped off any of your mother’s famous prune/date/poppy seed versions at my doorstep, I am reviewing product obtained only from retail outlets and the sisterhood at my house of worship. Here are the completely arbitrary guidelines:
Although I tried apricot, date, poppy seed and chocolate (!) I am only reviewing poppy seed because I could find poppy seed from all sources.
The judging was based on taste and appearance. As for judging on authenticity…I wouldn’t call myself an authority on anything filled with prunes, dates or poppy seeds. What qualifies me to render my judgments here? Absolutely nothing other than I have a pretty decent palate.
So here is the good and the bad news: 
Fourth Place: Byerly’s. What was wrong with their hamentashen? Almost everything. They looked like someone stepped on a pirate’s hat. The filling was cloyingly sweet and tasted of nothing discernible. But the worst offense was the pastry. It tasted of uncooked flour and fell apart in my hand.
Third Place: The Sisterhood. Sorry friends, but I must be honest. The appearance of the pastry was the clear over-all winner of any we tried…made with loving hands but it was a little tough and dry. The filling was so off-putting that everyone made a “what is this?!” face. It tasted oddly of clove. I’ve checked some poppy seed recipes, and clove is NOT one of the indicated ingredients.
Second Place: Crossroads Deli. You could almost get poppy seeds from the filling, it wasn’t too sweet. The pastry was decent, but again, it didn’t have the traditional “three pointed hat” kind of look. Overall, it wasn’t objectionable.
First Place: Cecil’s Deli. The filling was lush and you knew what it was. Rich, but not too sweet. The pastry was dense but in a good way. You wanted to finish the cookie, even when the filling was gone (not the case with any others we tried). A post-baking sprinkle of sugar gave it just the right crunch. They could use a little work on the look , but the over-all quality of the product more than made up for the silly lopsided shape. Cecil’s almost won me over!
As an aside…I wish I could have included Mort’s deli in my taste test, but apparently they don’t do hamentashen. They do have an awesome Kentucky Brown, however.
If you want control of your Hamentashen domain, make it yourself with this recipe. This looks like a pretty easy version…no clove to be found anywhere.
That’s our hamentashen smack down. Next in judge’s chambers? Chopped Liver! Suggestions?
Filed Under: Noshin'
Thanks Andy for doing the leg work. I, on the other hand, love my Haman hats, so these reviews make me sad.
I guess I’ll have to make my own.
Cecil’s Hamantashen are the bomb!!!!!
Hamantashen tasting contest on Saturday at Noazim’s Purim Party. You know you want to.
Love the “stomped pirate’s hat.” Hilarious. Byerlys kosher bakery has a lot of issues. Find me a Jew that has every searched long and hard for a pareve pastel thumb print cookie or a pareve blueberry muffin? They basically took their regular recipes and made them pareve/kosher. We for sure need lots of pareve cakes for Shabbat and holiday meals, but pareve French silk is just WRONG. Where are the black/white cookies? Where’s the babka?
I’m still missing Fishmans. Sigh.
Can you find *real* decent bagels that show evidence of boiling and baking?
@ C, Common Roots on Lyndale does bagels the right way.
@ Nina, I was really missing Fishman’s when I was sourcing hamentashen for my post. It was harder than I expected to find them. And as I mentioned in my post, Mort’s disapoints for not having them. They do, however, have a decent black and white. Kosher? I don’t know.
My Rabbi once confided in me that sisterhood hamentashen required some “getting used to”. Cecils rules the hamentashen world, hands down.
I’m going to have to jump in here. Michael and I went to my grandparents this week and ate the most amazing Temple of Aaron sisterhood hamentashen. So I’m totally in favor. Haven’t tried any other this year, but seriously plan to.
C’mon Leora. Temple of Aaron hamantashen are just normal hamantashen. The stuffing is fine and the dough crumbles. Cecil’s hamantashen however are chewy, moist, poppyseed filled, pastries of ambrosia. And yes, they look kinda funny, but don’t we all? =)
Sorry, I think Temple of Aaron are better than Cecil’s. Not just because they aren’t available all year round, but the sisterhood has a secret recipe for the filling.
Well, we did three batches at home and did a taste test. The winner was Mt. Zion’s Sisterhood recipe. I’ll be helping with the baking again this year; consider tasting them and comparing to ToA.