Indulge in the delectable world of Rugelach, a traditional Jewish pastry that tantalizes taste buds with its flaky layers, nutty filling, and powdered sugar coating. Originating from Eastern Europe, Rugelach has become a beloved treat worldwide, capturing hearts with its unique crescent shape and irresistible flavors. This article presents a culinary journey into the realm of Rugelach, featuring two enticing recipes that cater to diverse preferences.
The first recipe, Classic Rugelach, embodies the essence of this traditional pastry. With a combination of cream cheese, sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon, the filling delivers a harmonious blend of sweet, nutty, and aromatic notes. Wrapped in a buttery, flaky dough, each bite offers a delightful crunch that yields to a soft, tender interior.
For those seeking a more indulgent experience, the Chocolate Rugelach recipe promises a rich, decadent treat. Chocolate lovers will delight in the luscious filling made from semisweet chocolate, sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon. The combination of chocolate and walnuts creates a symphony of flavors that perfectly complements the buttery dough.
Both recipes provide step-by-step instructions, ensuring that even novice bakers can achieve Rugelach perfection. Detailed explanations and helpful tips guide you through the process, from preparing the dough to shaping the pastries and achieving that perfect golden-brown bake.
So, embark on this culinary adventure and discover the magic of Rugelach. Whether you prefer the classic flavors of the original recipe or the indulgent richness of the chocolate variation, these recipes guarantee a delightful experience that will leave you craving more.
CHOCOLATE RUGELACH
A much-loved Jewish holiday treat, chocolate rugelach are miniature pastries posing as cookies.
Provided by Jennifer Segal
Categories Desserts
Time 50m
Yield 36 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Make the dough: Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the chunks of butter, cream cheese, and egg yolk. Process until the dough starts to come together into a well-moistened, crumbly mass, 20 to 30 seconds. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface. Gather the crumbly dough into a ball and knead, dusting the work surface and dough lightly with flour as necessary, until it comes together into a smooth ball. Shape the dough into a rectangle, then cut into 4 equal portions; flatten each piece of dough into a ½-inch-thick rectangle. Wrap each section of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
- Make the filling: Place the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until almost melted. Stir, allowing the residual heat in the bowl to melt the chocolate completely. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a double boiler on the stovetop.) Mix in the sugar and salt. The mixture will be grainy; that's okay.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll the cookies: Remove one section of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and place it on a lightly floured work surface. (If necessary, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it's pliable enough to roll, but not too soft.) Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour, then use a rolling pin to roll it into an 8 x 11-in rectangle. Don't make yourself crazy over it, but try to make it as even as possible around the edges; it will make it easier to roll. (Go ahead and trim slightly with a pizza cutter or sharp knife if it's very uneven.) Using an offset spatula or back of a spoon, quickly spread ¼ of the chocolate filling (about a ¼ cup) evenly over the dough, leaving a ¼-inch border around the edges.
- Starting from the long side, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder. Place the filled rolled dough, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and chocolate filling. Place the rolled dough logs in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Take the rolled dough out of the refrigerator. Using a serrated knife, slice off the uneven ends of each roll and discard. Then slice the rolls into 1-in-wide pieces. Place each slice, seam side down, on the prepared sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool the rugelach on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Rugelach are best enjoyed fresh on the day they are baked but any extra cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to 3 days, or frozen for longer storage.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The unbaked sliced rugelach can be chilled and stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator before baking.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The unbaked sliced rugelach can be frozen for up to 3 months. Before freezing, let the sliced rugelach set on a baking sheet in the freezer for approximately 20 minutes, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) To freeze after baking: Let the rugelach cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Facts : ServingSize 1 cookie, Calories 144, Fat 9 g, Carbohydrate 16 g, Protein 2 g, SaturatedFat 5 g, Sugar 8 g, Fiber 1 g, Sodium 51 mg, Cholesterol 23 mg
RUGELACH
Steps:
- Add the cheese and butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the salt, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough out onto a well-floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, wrap each piece in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- To make the filling, combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the raisins, and walnuts.
- On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a 9-inch circle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons apricot preserves and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the filling. Press the filling lightly into the dough. Cut the circles into 12 equal wedges-cutting the whole circle in quarters, then each quarter into thirds. Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge. Arrange the cookies, points tucked under, on a baking sheet(s) lined with parchment paper. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven to a wire rack and let cool. Arrange on a large platter and serve.
RUGELACH
These light and flaky pastries, popular among American and European Jews, are adapted from a recipe by Dorie Greenspan, the prolific cookbook author and winner of four James Beard Awards. The crescent shape and layers of filling might look complicated, but the dough is quite simple to put together (hello, food processor!) and easy to work with. Beyond that, it's really just a matter of rolling, spreading and cutting. These are meant to be bite-sized - about one-inch long - but if you want them bigger, go right ahead. (Should you choose to go larger, Dorie suggests rolling the dough into rectangles instead of circles and cutting the dough into bigger triangles. In that way, you would ultimately get more layers of filling and dough.)
Provided by Emily Weinstein
Categories dessert
Time 4h
Yield 36 cookies
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- To make the dough: Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes - you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.
- Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds - don't work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.
- Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)
- To make the filling: Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)
- To shape the cookies: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the currants and half of the chopped chocolate. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.
- Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, then to cut each quarter into 4 triangles.) Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking. (The cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.)
- Getting ready to bake: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- To finish: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
- Bake the cookies 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 94, UnsaturatedFat 2 grams, Carbohydrate 11 grams, Fat 5 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 1 gram, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 32 milligrams, Sugar 7 grams, TransFat 0 grams
RUGELACH
This recipe is from Linda Shapiro. I have many rugelach recipes, but this is truly the best I have ever made.
Provided by Jackie
Categories Desserts Cookies Nut Cookie Recipes Walnut
Time 3h17m
Yield 48
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Cut cold butter or margarine and cream cheese into bits. In food processor pulse flour, salt, butter or margarine, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly.
- Shape crumbly mixture into four equal disks. Wrap each disk and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.
- Combine sugar, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and finely chopped raisins (may substitute miniature chocolate chips for raisins).
- Roll each disk into a 9 inch round keeping other disks chilled until ready to roll them. Sprinkle round with sugar/nut mixture. Press lightly into dough. With chefs knife or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, you will end up with point on outside of cookie. Place on ungreased baking sheets and chill rugelach 20 minutes before baking.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- After rugelach are chilled, bake them in the center rack of your oven 22 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers...they freeze very well.
- Variations: Before putting the filling on the dough, use a pastry brush to layer apricot jam as well as brown sugar. Then add the recommended filling. You may also make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and roll the rugelach in this prior to putting them on the cookie sheets.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 101.4 calories, Carbohydrate 7.9 g, Cholesterol 16 mg, Fat 7.4 g, Fiber 0.4 g, Protein 1.4 g, SaturatedFat 3.8 g, Sodium 27.6 mg, Sugar 3.1 g
Tips and Conclusion
- Use cold butter: Cold butter is easier to work with and will help to create a flakier crust.
- Chill the dough before baking: Chilling the dough will help to prevent it from spreading too much in the oven.
- Bake the rugelach until they are golden brown: This will ensure that they are cooked through and have a nice crispy crust.
- Let the rugelach cool slightly before serving: This will help to prevent them from falling apart.
- Dust the rugelach with powdered sugar before serving: This will add a touch of sweetness and make them look even more appealing.
Rugelach is a delicious and versatile pastry that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, or dessert. With a few simple tips, you can make perfect rugelach at home. So next time you're looking for a special treat, give this recipe a try. You won't be disappointed!
Are you curently on diet or you just want to control your food's nutritions, ingredients? We will help you find recipes by cooking method, nutrition, ingredients...
Check it out »
You'll also love