Rugelach is a great, rolled cookie to make for a snack or dessert. Traditionally a Jewish food made on holidays, this rugelach is delicious year round. This was my first time making rugelach and it was so good fresh out of the oven.
This recipe takes longer than a normal cookie because you must leave time for the dough to freeze, but you can always just work on some homework while you wait.
This is an easy to follow recipe and I would definitely recommend it for someone looking to try out a new dessert. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
· 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
· 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 2 sticks butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
· 8 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
· 2 tablespoons sour cream
· A food processor
Directions:
1. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.
2. Add butter, cream cheese and sour cream and mix for around 25 one-second pulses. The dough should come together in small, uneven pebbles.
3. Then, after removing it from the food processor, press the dough into one long strip and cut into even quarters.
4. Press each quarter into a small disk and cover both sides with wax paper.
5. On top of the wax paper, use a rolling pin to flatten and form an 8 1/2 inch circle. Place this flattened dough in the wax paper in the freezer for 30 minutes. Now it's time to prepare the filling.
Ingredients:
· 1 cup sugar
· 1 tablespoon cinnamon
· 1 cup raisins
· 2 cup walnuts, finely chopped in the food processor
· 2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Remove the dough from the freezer and take off the top wax paper and begin to create the filling.
2. Lay down the sugar cinnamon mixture, then walnuts, then chocolate and finally the raisins (Personally, I don't like walnuts or raisins, so I just use extra chocolate. Feel free to get creative though — you can use a variety of ingredients, but I suggest craisins, white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts too!).
There are two ways to prepare the rugelach. Rugelach literally means "little twists" in Yiddish, so here are the two different twisting options:
We can roll the dough to get "Cut Rugelach"
3. Rolling this is just like rolling sushi or strudel. Make sure to tuck in the dough to start and then roll over itself. The dough is sticky, so use the wax paper to avoid touching the dough and having it stick to your hands.
4. Once rolled, cut off the end pieces if the filling does not reach the end.
5. Cut the roll into one inch pieces and freeze for 15 minutes.
Or, we can make "Crescent Rugelach." This type takes longer, but in my opinion, looks better
6. Once you have laid down the filling on the circular dough, cut the dough into slices as if cutting a pizza pie.
7. Take each slice and roll from what would be the "crust" inwards, making the rugelach skinnier on the outside and thicker on the inside. Once again, use wax paper to avoid having the dough stick to your hands.
8. Then, put the individual crescents in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Finally, create a glaze to bake the rugelach.
Ingredients:
· 2 large eggs
· 2 tablespoons milk
Directions:
1. Separate the egg yolk and white. To do this, crack the egg in half while keeping the egg yolk in the bottom half.
Then, slide the yolk from one half of the eggshell to the other while letting the egg white fall into a bowl underneath. Continue this process until only the yolk remains.
2. Whisk together the egg yolk and milk.
3. Brush the top and sides of the rugelach with this mixture
4. Bake for 21-23 minutes until golden brown, pour some cinnamon sugar on top of the rugelach, and they are ready to eat!!
