poppy seed (mun) filling
for Brooklyn Bakery Style hamantaschen
hag sameach purim!
There are so many clever and creative new fillings for hamantaschen these days, and while I sheepishly admit to being a fan of many of them—ok, of all of them—my favorite ones are still the old world fillings of my childhood. And, among the old classics, my all time favorite is what my grandparents knew as “mun,” a sweet filling made of milled poppy seeds.
If the idea of a sweet pastry filled with poppy seeds doesn’t excite you, you’ve probably never tried these.
I enthusiastically recommend that you give them a shot.
Poppy seed (mun) filling
If you’re not familiar with the story of holiday known as Purim, you can read my abbreviated version, mini-series style, here.
Or, you can click here for an English translation of the actual Scroll of Esther, the Megillah Esther.
But, you’ve come to this page for a recipe for Poppy Seed Filling, so without further chit-chat, here you go!
I’m going to give you three versions. You choose which one you want to make.
One last thing before we get started: You’ll want the recipe to make the absolute best, Brooklyn Bakery Style Hamantaschen dough. After all, that fabulous filling needs to go somewhere!
In a nutshell, Purim is the story of how an evil Super-Villain called Haman attempted to have all the Jews of Persia murdered, and how they survived because of the cleverness and bravery of a young Jewish girl named Hadassah who took on the Persian name of Esther and became Queen.
Hamantaschen are the signature treat associated with the holiday of Purim. For kids and adults alike, it’s a day of dressing in costumes, celebrating with carnivals, and listening to the Megillah being read as they cheer for the good guys and boo for the bad guy. But the day has deeper, mystical significance as well.
for brooklyn bakery style Hamantaschen
happy purim!
poppy seed filling for
The World’s Best Hamantaschen,
Brooklyn Bakery style
Three Ways
Easiest—Yum
Buy a can of Solo brand poppy seed filling. Open the can and use it “as is.”
Easy trick to give it a fresh, home-made taste—Double Yum.
Buy a can of Solo brand poppy seed filling. Empty the contents of the can into a bowl and add the littlest squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of cinnamon. Stir to combine. So simple, and a major difference from straight out of the can.
Mun Filling from Scratch—Yum Yum Yum
The seeds I’ve been buying from Frontier have been consistently fresh and flavorful. They’re organic, kosher, and I like the fact that they’re also climate pledge friendly. You can find them here:
You’ll need to grind those poppy seeds. I imagine that my great-grandma did this by hand, with a mortar and pestle, back in the old country. If that’s the route you’d like to take, go for it!
A clean coffee grinder works well for grinding spices. This is my favorite one for this purpose.
If you love poppy seed breads and desserts as much as I do, you might want to invest in this little powerhouse, made especially for grinding seeds.
As for grating the orange zest, this is my absolute favorite microplane. It does a super job for finely grating hard cheeses, as well. I like that it has a protective cover so that I don’t accidentally grate my fingers while searching for it in the drawer.
This recipe is adapted from the New York Times. It’s the one I use.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange1 cup poppy seeds
⅓ cup raisins, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
½ tablespoon brandy
½ tablespoon orange liqueur
½ tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Method:
Put milk, sugar and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat.
Coarsely grind the poppy seeds, taking care not to over-process to a paste.
When the milk mixture is warm, turn the heat to low and add the poppy seeds and raisins.
Cook at a low simmer stirring frequently until the seeds absorb the milk and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes.
Add the lemon juice, brandy, orange liqueur and butter. Stir and cook for 2 minutes more.
Stir in the vanilla paste, then remove from the heat. Let the filling cool completely before using, or chill until needed, up to 3 days.