When choosing a filling for cookies or pastries, using the right recipe is important. While it may be tempting to use jam or preserves to fill your baked treats, the texture is generally too thin for this purpose. A filling needs to be thick to stand up to the high heat of baking. This apricot filling known as lekvar (apricot butter) is perfect for filling hamantaschen, cookies, kolaches, or pastries.
This filling is so easy to make, and the results are scrumptious. Apricot doesn’t need much “dressing up”– the sweetness of a baked cookie or pastry combined with this succulent, slightly tart filling make for a truly special treat. I love using this filling for hamantaschen, the traditional Jewish cookie for the holiday Purim. It also works really well for kolaches. You can use it to fill danishes, swirl it through sweet baked cakes (strudel or apricot babka anyone?), or use it as a spreadable apricot butter. So many possibilities!
Need a delicious and foolproof hamantaschen dough recipe? For my Dairy Free Hamantaschen dough, click here. For my Buttery Hamantaschen dough, click here. To learn how to make kolaches, click here.
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Apricot Filling for Cookies, Pastries, Hamantaschen and Kolaches
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried pitted apricots
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil for one minute.Reduce heat to medium low so the mixture simmers slowly and constantly. Cover the pot.Let the mixture simmer covered for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- Remove the lid from the pan. Let the apricots continue to simmer for 2-3 more minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated/absorbed. Keep a close eye on the pan to make sure the apricots don't burn. When there are about 3 tbsp of liquid left in the pan, remove from heat.
- Mash the apricots with a potato masher till a smooth puree forms. Run a fork through the mixture to break up any pieces the potato masher missed. You can also use an immersion blender for a smoother puree, if desired.
- Let cool to room temperature before using. Store in a sealed, airtight container in the refrigerator. Refrigerating the filling to chill completely will make it easier to work with when filling cookies like hamantaschen.
Nutrition
Really tasty filling! Of course i also used buttery Hamantaschen daugh recipe, just as usually reduced amount of sugar and it was perfect for me. The filling is sweet enough to let the daugh be less sweet. I also did poppey seed filling and loved it as well. These will be my favorite recipes for Purim. Thanks a lot! With love from Switzerland!
Super easy, not too sweet and just the right consistency! I used my Ninja blender instead of mashing. It worked well. Thanks.
Easy and very delicious! I will fill my hamantaschan tomorrow with this beautiful mixture. Who knew you could make your own? Apparently not me!
This recipe is the perfect filling for apricot rolls! I combine it with a dough recipe from a Slovenian cook book that my mother gifted me in 1982! My family loves them!
I can’t believe this recipe is this easy and cost effective. I hesitantly made it, thinking, if I don’t like it or, it doesn’t hold up in the oven, I’ll go buy it again. Let me tell you, this recipe is absolutely amazing and heat resistant/oven proof!!! Previously, I would buy Apricot Lekvar which was super expensive due to it’s ability to withstand high oven temps, but this recipe, totally held up in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 min., and, it tastes great. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.
As a reference, I used 11oz of dried apricots which made 95 3″ kiffles.
Can’t wait for more recipes
How long will this keep in fridge
This recipe is fantastic! So simple to make and you end up with amazing filling. I used it for my hamantaschen 🙂 Thank you!!
Can I can this? I suspect yes, but asking. It came out well but recipe made a lot and I won’t use it often so canning seems the way to go. . . . Thanks!!