Skip to main content

Honey-Nut Filling

Image may contain Food Dessert Cake Dish Meal and Pie
Photograph by Isa Zapata.  Food Styling by Susan Ottaviano.  Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan

Virtually any combination of nuts will work in this crunchy-chewy hamantaschen filling; just make sure the final amount totals 1½ cups (190 g). We like using a mild honey in this recipe so the flavor doesn’t overpower the nuts and the cookie. For our hamantaschen recipe, see here.

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes enough for 24 cookies

Ingredients

½ cup (65 g) raw pecans
½ cup (60 g) raw pistachios
½ cup (65 g) raw walnuts
½ cup (160 g) honey
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Toast ½ cup (65 g) raw pecans, ½ cup (60 g) raw pistachios, and ½ cup (65 g) raw walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway through, until golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop.

    Step 2

    Transfer nuts to a medium saucepan and add ½ cup (160 g) honey, 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, and ¼ cup water; cook over medium heat, stirring often, until syrup thickens and starts clinging to nuts, 6–8 minutes (an instant-read thermometer should register 235°). Let cool before using.

    Do ahead: Filling can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Read More
As energizing as an energy bar, with a much simpler ingredient list.
This laid-back Italian tart is made with a tender, buttery shortbread crust, filled with apricot jam, and blanketed in a layer of sliced almonds.
Crunchy, seedy flax crackers get topped with dark chocolate and a showering of sea salt for the ultimate sweet and salty snack.
Nutty and deeply chocolatey, these brownies just so happen to be gluten-free.
Spiced, tender meatballs get cooked atop a bed of rice pilaf speckled with pistachios and plump golden raisins in this quick, one-pot dinner.
A savory-hot salsa made with mixed nuts (like the kind dubbed cocktail nuts meant for snacking) gives roast salmon a kaleidoscope of textures and flavors.
A warmly spiced Ashkenazi charoset, perfect for your Passover seder—or spooned over yogurt the next morning.
A garlicky pistachio topping takes this sunny summer pasta from good to great.