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.

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 a young Jewish girl named Hadassah who took on the Persian name of Esther and became Queen.

If you’re not familiar with the story of holiday known as Purim, you can read my made-for t.v.-mini-series abbreviated version, or get serious and read the full English translation of Megillah Esther, the Scroll of Esther, to learn what it’s all about.

There are so many clever and creative new fillings for hamantaschen these days and, while my favorite ones are still the Old World fillings of my childhood, I must sheepishly admit to being a fan of many of them—ok, of (almost) all of them.

But, the first time I was introduced to these I turned up my “hamantaschen snob” nose. “Seriously?” I thought, “Nutella? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Then I gave in and took a bite.

They were amazing.

From there, it was only a short hop of my brain to get to S’mores Hamantaschen

These are both super-easy to make.

But, 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!

chocolate hazelnut filling

for Brooklyn Bakery style Hamantaschen

There really is no recipe for this. Buy a jar of Nutella, or any chocolate hazelnut spread of your choosing. Plop a teaspoon-sized dollop into the center of your rolled-out-and-cut hamantaschen dough circles, brush the remaining exposed dough with the egg white wash as specified in my recipe for Brooklyn Bakery Style Hamantaschen, and pinch to form the pastry triangle as described in that recipe. Bake according to the recipe instructions.

S’mores filling

for Brooklyn Bakery style Hamantaschen

First, let’s talk about marshmallows—Regular marshmallows, mini or otherwise, are made with gelatin, which is usually sourced from the bones of pigs and/or cows. Not kosher! Kosher marshmallows are available. They’re made with gelatin sourced from the bones of kosher fish. Since fish are considered pareve, meaning it can be eaten with either a meat meal or a dairy meal, they’re an excellent substitute. But . . . not for vegetarians.

My first foray into the world of vegan marshmallows came at the first Thanksgiving after half my family chose to become vegetarian. When my kids were little, I always topped my Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Now that my kids are big—in fact, some of their kids are already big—you’d think they’d be ready to try something a little more sophisticated. Not so. They want those marshmallows, added to the top, 5 minutes before the dish comes out of the oven so that the marshmallows are perfectly golden. I wasn’t sure how the vegan ones would behave, but they did the job brilliantly, and even those who had not embraced vegetarianism were perfectly happy with them. The ones from Trader Joes’s are very good, and so are Dandies, which can be found in many supermarkets.

To make these hamantaschen taste like everyone’s favorite campfire treat, you need more than chocolate spread and a marshmallow. It’s just not s’mores without that graham cracker flavor.

On my first attempt, I plopped my dollop of chocolate hazelnut filling into the center of my cut-out round of dough, sprinkled on some graham cracker crumbs, and topped it off with a mini marshmallow. I didn’t love the result. The graham cracker crumbs remained powdery and the marshmallow melted away to nothing. So, I tried something else.

First, I made two changes to my regular Brooklyn Bakery Style Hamantaschen dough.

1. I switched out one cup of the four cups of flour for three cups of flour and one cup of finely ground graham cracker crumbs.

2. I replaced the cardamom in the recipe with cinnamon.

Then I proceeded with the recipe in the usual manner.

Once you have your dough, you’ll continue as in the recipe above. Plop a teaspoon sized dollop of chocolate hazelnut spread into the center of your circle of dough, assemble the pastry, and bake as usual.

And then there’s . . . The Big Finish: As soon as the hamantaschen come out of the oven, while the filling is still hot and soft, it’s time to add the marshmallow. You have two choices here—You can gently press a mini marshmallow into the center of the filling, or you can cut up a mini marshmallow into a few pieces and gently press all of them into the filling.

You can serve them just as they are, but one little step more will take them from great to fabulous.

Whip out your kitchen torch—you do have one, right? This is the one that I have and it’s the best one I’ve ever had. I use it often. And it’s not expensive. A few seconds with the torch will give you a perfectly toasted marshmallow. You can also use one of those long handled lighters, like the kind you’d use to light a grill, but it can be a bit much to do if you have a whole tray of these. I caution against putting them under the broiler because it will be broiling your pastry as well.

It’s amazing all the things one can do with a kitchen torch. It’s one of those things that you never thought you needed until you got one. crème brûlée . . . smoked cocktails . . . hmmmm.

Be sure to try these other fabulous fillings for hamantaschen as well!

Poppy Seed (Muhn) Filling, three ways

Lekvar Fillings, Prune and Apricot

Bananas Foster Filling

Best In Show Trophy Winning Lemon and Lavender Filling

Strawberries and Cream Filling

Did you make it? Was it fabulous?