Purim Recipes: It's Not Just Hamantaschen

When you think about Purim and food, the only thing that really comes to mind is hamantaschen. Now don’t get me wrong–I love hamantaschen. They are totally delicious, fun to make with kids, and you can fill them with almost anything (my husband likes to put a few chocolate chips and a few peanut butter chips in each cookie. Scrumptious).

But they’re not the end-all and be-all of Purim food. I’m a fan of Purim snacks that you can put into mishloach manot, the goody bags of sorts that people traditionally give to friends and family on Purim. Ronnie Fein, a contributor to our site, loves to put her fabulous butter crunch in mishloach manot.

And then I came across these delicious-looking peanut butter chocolate balls over at Joy of Kosher–yum. And perfectly sized for dropping into a goody bag!

Of course, you can put any kind of cookies into your mishloach manot (hamantaschen included!) but I found these awesome and fun-to-make painted cookies from Martha Stewart and thought what a fun project to do with your kids! You use a straw to blow the food coloring across the cookie–my 2.5-year-old is going to love this one.

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Now, if you’re planning a Purim party, we know exactly where you should start. Check out Leah Schapira’s colorful Purim popcorn–perfect for your Purim party or for any party, really.

A classic sweet-treat food for any Jewish holiday is the chocolate babka. Our friends over at CookKosher.com made a video that shows you a step-by-step process of making babka. The finished product looks so delicious that I just want to eat it now!

We are also totally inspired by this kid-friendly punch over at the Shiksa in the Kitchen. (If you’re hosting an adults-only Purim fiesta, be sure to check out her beverages just for grown-ups too!)

So just because hamantaschen are traditional doesn’t mean that they are the only sweet treat for Purim. And if you want to go savory, try out this chickpea appetizer, meat kreplach, or bean stew… the list goes on. Turns out, cooking for Purim is almost as fun as celebrating the holiday itself!

Amy Deutsch

Amy is a Jewish educator and a mom. After graduating from Brandeis University she received a masters degree at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she was a Wexner Fellow. Over the past 10 years Amy has developed experience in teaching, family education, camp, curriculum writing, and most recently, has begun teaching Baby & Me classes.