The last two bakeries that I worked, always made rugelach around the holidays, but it was not something that was available year round. In order to tell customers what our products tasted like, all the front end employees were required to taste everything. Tough job, right?
People are always amazed when I tell them that, and even more amazed when I tell them how quickly eating pastries can get old. But I never got tired of rugelach. Even though I saw rugelach being made, I never had any hands on experience baking the rugelach at those bakeries.
I left the bakery business when my children were born, because finding a babysitter at four o’clock in the morning was an impossible task. I went to work for my friend, Carol, in her office. She was not only an amazing friend, but also a great boss. My babies came to work with me everyday. If they were fussy we would simply pass them back and forth so that we could both get our work done. An incredibly progressive idea for today, but back then it was downright revolutionary.
Every year, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we baked for both of our family Thanksgivings. We always made the same things: apple pies, chocolate chip cookies and rugelach. She pulled out an old cookbook with a traditional recipe, and we went from there. Over the course of years, it was in Carol’s kitchen where I perfected this rugelach recipe.
We filled ours with prune and apricot filling, and topped them with cinnamon sugar and nuts, but the filling options are really limitless. I make my rugelach gluten free, but you can easily substitute regular all purpose flour. To measure out either type of flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it with a knife. Do not scoop it out with the measuring cup. This will prevent you from adding to much flour to the recipe.
A pastry in a cookie shape, that is beautiful and delicious, rugelach will have you coming back again and again. Wrap up a beautiful platter in cellophane for a perfect Hanukkah gift.
For more delicious vegetarian recipe ideas for all your holiday needs, please visit our recipe page.
| Prep Time | 45 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20-25 minutes |
| Passive Time | 2 hours, 15 minutes |
| Servings |
dozen
|
- 1 Cup butter unsalted, room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese full fat, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose gluten free flour mix with xanthan gum plus more for dusting work surface, see note*. May substitute regular all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt kosher
- 1 1/4 cup walnuts finely chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup seedless jam or gluten free pie filling, optional, see note**
- 1 egg for egg wash, optional
- 1 cup turbinado sugar optional
Ingredients
|
Rate this recipe!
|
- Cut butter and cream cheese into small pieces and beat until creamy.
- Add vanilla and 1/3 cup of granulated sugar to bowl and mix until well incorporated.
- Combine flour and salt, whisk until combined.
- With mixer on low, slowly add in flour mix, beating well and scraping bowl after each addition. The dough will be sticky.
- Separate dough into 4 equal pieces. Press dough into a flat disc shape and wrap well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm and well chilled, about two hours.
- When dough is well chilled, cover your work surface with plastic wrap or parchment paper and lightly flour. Take one of the wrapped pieces of dough out at a time, unwrap and place on your work surface.
- Lightly dust with flour and roll dough out evenly to a 1/8" thick rectangle.
- If desired, cover top of dough with a thin layer of jam or pie filling, leaving a narrow border around the edges. See note below for tips on selecting pie filling.
- Combine remaining sugar with cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/4 of the cinnamon sugar mix on top of jam or filling, or if not using a filling, straight onto dough. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the finely chopped walnuts.
- Starting with a long edge, roll dough into a tight roll, using the plastic wrap or parchment paper to help. Roll and press log down gently so the seam is on the bottom. The ends will be slightly loose - either cut them off or tuck them under and gently press them into the log.
- Cut log into 1" pieces - a pizza cutter or bench knife works well. Brush with beaten egg and gently press top into the turbinado sugar. If egg free, brush lightly with water and press top into the turbinado sugar.
- Place on a silicone mat or parchment paper covered baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Repeat with other chilled dough pieces.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown. Place on a rack to cool completely.
*If your gluten free flour mix does not contain xanthan gum, add 2 teaspoons xanthan gum to your gluten free flour mix.
**Note: If using a pie filling, make sure it is a smooth filling. The rugelach shape does not work well with large chunks of fruit. I would not recommend using apple or cherry filling for that reason.
This Rugelach recipe is gluten free and vegetarian.
 |
|
|
|
