Everyone Loves Rugelach!

You can find Rugelach in most grocery stores, bagel shops, and many bakeries. Everyone loves rugelach. I have made them many times over the years in several different varieties; some times with a cinnamon nut filling, a chocolate chip filling and also with a jam filling. The chocolate one’s usually go first although they are all quite tasty. This time I am using a recipe from one of my favorite blogs by Tori Avey, The Shiksa in the Kitchen. It is a combination of all 3 fillings in one cookie and they are devine!

The basic dough recipe for rugelach is made with cream cheese and butter. Tori changes it up a bit by adding a little sour cream to the dough. She creates a filling combining chocolate chips, walnuts and berry preserves. I used dark chocolate and Marion Blackberry preserves and they turned out fantastic! 

They are really pretty simple to do given the right tools. A food processor, rolling pin and parchment paper are the most helpful.

RUGELACH

Makes 40 large rugelach

Ingredients 

     Dough 

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar

     Filling

• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup berry preserves (raspberry, strawberry, or blackberry)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

     Egg Wash and Topping

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp water
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

• Chop cold butter and cream cheese into smaller pieces. Put pieces into your food processor along with sour cream, flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse together ingredients until a crumbly dough forms and begins to fall away from the sides of the processor. Don’t overprocess; the dough should look crumbly, like cottage cheese.
• Pour dough onto a lightly floured rolling surface and form into a rough ball shape. Divide the ball into four equal pieces, form into a ball and cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator. Refrigerate dough balls for at least 1 1/2 hours, for up to 48 hours.
• In a skillet, toast the chopped nuts over medium heat until fragrant. Pour the toasted nuts into a food processor along with the chocolate chips, berry preserves, and brown sugar. Pulse together until a thick, coarse paste forms. Reserve.
• Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl; reserve. Beat your egg wash with water; reserve.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly flour your rolling surface and rolling pin. Take one portion of the dough out the refrigerator (keep the rest of the dough cold until ready to use). Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. You may need to use the rolling pin to pound out the dough a bit at the beginning; the dough will be very firm and cold, but will become more pliable as it starts to warm. Lift the dough gently from the rolling surface (it may stick a bit) and re-flour your surface beneath the dough. Replace the dough onto the newly refloured surface. Use a round 9″ cake pan as a guide to make a nice, smooth imprint of a circle in the dough. Cut the dough into a large circle, following the shape of the cake pan. If you don’t have a cake pan, just guesstimate the size of the circle and cut it as smoothly as you can. Form the trimmed excess dough into a small ball. Wrap it in plastic and reserve in the refrigerator, adding to the ball with each batch that is made. 
• Take 1/4 of the filling (about 4 tbsp) and place it in the center of the circle. Spread it very thin across the surface of the dough; a thick layer of filling will make your cookies expand and burst. You can use your fingers to make the spreading easier; I like to use my palm to flatten and even out the filling. Leave about an inch around the edges of the circle.
• Cut the circle into 8 equal triangles by first cutting the circle in half, then quarters, then eighths.
• Roll each triangle, starting from the wide flat end and rolling towards the narrow point. Press the end point into the cookie to secure it. Place the rolled cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, end point down. Leave an inch between the cookies, as they will expand slightly during baking.
• When you are ready to bake, brush the top of each cookie with egg wash, then sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar.
• Place cookies in the oven and let them back for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool them on a wire rack.
• When you’re finished making cookies from the four dough balls, make a smooth ball from the leftover dough trimmings you’ve reserved and roll it out to make your fifth batch.

 (Printable recipe can be found in my recipe index under Desserts)