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Mess Free and Easy Rugelach

Rugelach are perfect little handheldย cookies that are impossible to resist.. ย Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in aย delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender.ย  Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

I admit…I CAN bake…it’s just I do not always want to…But there is that one dessert that I make that is truly MY dessert. Everyone asks for MY recipe…Everyone doubles over in delight after eating MY creation…Everyone gains about 2 pounds after eating MY dessert.

This is how this magical dessert was born…
I was unemployed…depressed and bored. I was sitting on the couch, doing nothing more than watching the Food Network. Ina Garten comes on screen and starts making these amazing little cookies. My ears perked up and my mouth started salivating. “I can do this,” I thought.

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

Reluctant to fail, I followed the recipe to a T. However, when the dough was not ending up quite how I like it, I tweaked it a bit. And they ended up AMAZING!

I ate ten myself and I decided these posed a major threat to my figure! I passed the delicious little love handle makers to my husband and told him to take them to work the very next day.

At 10am the next day I get a phone call from a crazed friend. She said her husband told her he had eaten the most amazing cookies that my husband brought into work and that I must make more!

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

So I made more and invited her over. She drove over in an hour and was eating them still hot. The sweetest thing she said was, “It’s like you put something in them that makes them absolutely irresistible! I cannot stop eating them.” The following day her father-in-law tasted them…and chaos ensued!

They all literally sat with their hands folded at the table and waited for my fresh batch of cookies for hours and immediately devoured them!

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

So now I finally pass them on ๐Ÿ™‚

My rugelach are just a tad different from other recipes. Most rugelach look like little crescents. I shape mine a little differently because it’s easier to cut them.

TIP: Use floss to cut the dough instead of a knife. ย It cuts it so much neater!

cinnabon.https://girlandthekitchen.com
As far as the preserves goes, I have used everything from apricot, to strawberry to cherry.

Here are some other ideas for these wonderful cookies:

  1. Add chocolate chips instead of raisins.
  2. Create a filing out of peanut butter and then spread jelly.
  3. Naturally…create a filling of Nutella. ย (I am currently resting dough for this as we speak.)
  4. Use other jellies and jams like strawberry jam and add some rhubarb in there.

The beauty of these little cookies is how easy it is to make them ahead of time. ย Just make the dough. Freeze it. And then use it as you see fit.

(Psst, this is precisely the reason that it is included in myย Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Dinner Menu Plan)

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

Make them as I do or make them yours…whatever it is share them…it’s a sin not to…

ย 

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Mess Free and Easy Rugelach

Mess Free and Easy Rugelach


  • Author: Mila Furman
  • Total Time: 90 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x

Description

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature)
  • 1/2– pound unsalted butter (at room temperature)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar (cane sugar or granulated sugar works in a pinch as well, packed)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 1 cup walnuts (use this little apparatus it is the BEST, finely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup apricot preserves (warmed up in the microwave for 30 seconds to make a bit more spreadable)
  • 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water (for egg wash)

Instructions

  1. Cream the cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment 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. *I have also used a food processor to make the dough and it worked great.*
  2. To make the filling, combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the raisins, and walnuts.
  3. 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.
  4. Roll up the dough carefully like a jelly roll, making sure to tuck the corners under.
  5. With floss slice them (as pictured) about 1 inch thick.
  6. Lay them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
  7. Chill for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  9. Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Notes

  1. You can double this recipe and save the dough in the fridge for a week for a rainy day.
  2. Sometimes it takes longer for the cookies to bake. Just monitor them carefully.
  3. The nutritional information is to be used for information purposes only.
  • Prep Time: 75 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Dessert, Jewish Cookies, sweets
  • Cuisine: American, Jewish

Recipe inspired by Ina Garten

Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you. Rugelach are perfect little handheld cooked that are impossible to resist.. Filled with fruits and nuts and rolled up in a delicate cream cheese crust, my rugelach are perfectly sweet and delightfully tender. Trust me on this one, double the batch, your guests will thank you.

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16 Comments

  1. Hi Mila, Thank you for posting this recipe. It’s really delicious. I follow recipe, the dough was very sticky and I had difficulty to roll. Maybe I over mix using food processor. Please let me know what I did wrong. Which blade did you use and how long to mix. I want to try again, this is my favorite cookie. I used to buy rugelach at Corner bakery, now I will be making myself. Thank you in advance for your time.

    1. Hi Inna! Thanks for stoping by! The dough is typically very sticky. Without knowing exactly what you did it’s hard to tell. However sometimes different humidity and different altitudes make a huge difference. If it’s hard to roll out, make sure you are sprinkling flower on the surface as well as the rolling pin

      1. Mila, Thank you for prompt reply. I have Cuisinart food processor and I use dough blade to mix cream cheese and butter, and then added remain ingredients. Maybe I over mixed. You posted that you use also food processor and results were great. Which blade did you use ?
        Do you know the recipe of tvorozhni cookies? Still remember taste from my childhood. Thank you.

        1. Inna I still remember them too ๐Ÿ™‚ I use the standard blade. If you overmixed then they would have been dry as you would have overdeveloped the gluten in the flour. Next time just use a little more flour rolling out ๐Ÿ™‚ and if it is very very stick you can add more into the dough while mixing. But only add 1 tablespoon at a time. Remember you can always add flour but you can take it out ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. GMTA. Mila! I also discovered that instead of rolling the individual crescents (such a pain!), the roll and slice method works very well. I haven’t tried cutting with dental floss, but I have made the Nutella version to rave reviews. (PS–I think the last steps–the oven temp and baking time–are missing…or am I missing something?) All the best for a wonderful New Year to you and your family.

    1. Hello Maelene! Shana Tova!!!! It really is such a pain right?! This way I can get the munching to do it with me ๐Ÿ™‚ FYI thanks for letting me know… I refreshed the recipe and everything popped right back up. Not sure what happened there ๐Ÿ™

    1. Hahahaha if Ina was commenting above I would just be like #killedit. #done. #dreamsaccomplished. Sadly not the case…but either way these are delicious!

  3. I was introduced to rugelach from my Jewish relatives and now is one of my favorite cookies! I love the ease of the dough and the endless possibilities of fillings. My family loves the traditional raisin but I am all about the Nutella!

    1. GIRRRRRL the nutella ones…I literally needed to rid my house of them before I are half a batch! It’s absurdity!!!!

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