Best of Winner: Max and Benny's

In our inaugural Best of Patch poll, was the clear winner for best hamantaschen in Northbrook, taking more than three quarters of the vote to beat out , and .

What makes the restaurant’s traditional Jewish cookies so good?   

The answer is butter, says owner Lester Schlan. 

“The secret to the success of the hamantaschen is the crust,” Schlan explains. “It’s a cookie crust.”

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While many bakeries and delis cook the triangular pastry with oil, Max and Benny’s uses a similar recipe to the one used for its cookies. The restaurant, deli and bakery on Waukegan Road sells hamantaschen year-round but offers more flavors around the Jewish holiday Purim, when the cookies are traditionally eaten. 

This year, Max and Benny’s is selling poppyseed, raspberry, apricot, cheese, cherry, prune, chocolate and cherry cheese hamantaschen. New this year is a banana flavor. 

Schlan said cherry has been one of the most popular flavors this year, but the traditional prune is a big seller around Purim, which begans at sundown March 7.

“You should come over and taste it, find out what makes it so good,” Schlan says. 

Next week, Patch is looking for your opinion on the best preschool in Northbrook. The voting begins at 9 a.m. on Monday.