The recipe I am sharing with you today is a new one to me. Until this week I’d never heard of rugelach before. Being the kind, self sacrificing, person that I am, I took it upon myself to make and test several batches of rugelach just so I could report back to you with a great recipe. It was brutal y’all, all that flaky dough, jam, sugar, and cinnamon. Four recipes in all, lots of baking and tasting, but I think we finally have a winner and I have a stomach ache.
At first this recipe appears difficult. It is not. There are several steps to the process, none of which prove to be challenging. The dough requires a bit of chilling both after it is made, and again after it is filled. Remember to allow yourself time for this. You all know how I love to have things stashed in the freezer for a rainy day, this recipe is perfect in that department. The rugelach log, once filled, can be frozen for later slicing and baking. That’s a winner in my book.
Traditional rugelach is shaped into crescents and filled with apricot jam, raisins, and walnuts. This recipe is customizable and easy for you to use your favorite jam, nut, and dried fruit. I love the taste of orange and chocolate together so in my recipe I’ve swapped the apricot jam for orange marmalade. I also skipped the tedious crescent shaping, cutting, and rolling and went simply for a slice and bake roll that is so popular and easy to do.
If you make these leave me a comment and let me know what customized fillings you used. Happy baking friends!
Rugelach
Dough:
8 ounces cream cheese softened
2 sticks butter softened
2 Cups all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in salt and flour and mix until well combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, shape into a disk and chill for 2 to 3 hours.
Filling:
In your first prep bowl:
½ cup orange marmalade (Or other seedless jam of your choice)
In your second prep bowl:
combine 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries (Or other dried fruit of your choice)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (Or other nut of your choice)
1/3 cup chopped semisweet chocolate chips
In your third prep bowl: 2/3 cups sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
Egg wash:
1 Beaten egg
1 tsp. water
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle approximately 12×7. Spread each rectangle with 2 tbsp orange marmalade. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp. Sugar cinnamon mixture, and ¼ cup of nut mixture.
Roll up each rectangle of filled dough starting from the wide side. Pinch roll closed and place on cookie sheet in freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove chilled roll from freezer and slice each roll into 12 rounds. Place rounds on cookie sheet. Brush top of each round with egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of the leftover sugar mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 23 to 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a wire rack to finish cooling.
