One bite and you’ll understand why everyone loves BONNIE’SRUGELACH RECIPE.
A few months back, I received a copy of DON’T WORRY, JUST COOK, a fab cookbook authored by my friends Bonnie Stern and Anna Rupert. Flipping through, I realized it was loaded with recipes I just had to try. One in particular caught my eye: BONNIE’SRUGELACH RECIPE.
I’m going to go through my experience in making the recipe, but to begin, here are some of the highlights:
- Rugelach are dainty, crescent-shapedcookiesfilled withjam,brown sugar,and spicednuts.
- Thesecookiesarea filled baked confection originating in the Jewish communities of Poland, where theywere often exchanged duringJewish holidays.
- Thedoughused to craft them is wonderfully flaky and made with both butter andcream cheese.
- Thecookiesare filled withjam, cinnamon,brown sugar,and choppednuts.
- The yield on this recipe is 48cookies,so there’s some serious scrumptiousness on the way.
Here are a few tips and tricks I learned making BONNIE’SRUGELACH RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS
One of the things about this recipe that first caught my eye is how fewingredientsare needed to make it. Note: thedoughfor thecookiesis made with flour, butter, andcream cheese, not a speck ofsaltorgranulated sugarin sight. This three-ingredientdoughhas such a rich taste and is super flaky, proving that superior recipes don’t need a ton ofingredients, just the right ones. For best results, we suggest using organicingredientsif possible. You will taste a difference.
COOKIEDOUGH
We made this rugelach recipe exactly as written in Bonnie’s cookbook. However, right before making thedough, she gave us two options for the process. You can either cut thecold unsalted butterand coldcream cheeseinto the flour and create thedoughby hand, or make it using afood processor. We opted for thefood processor,being careful not to over-process. This method worked perfectly and you can watch this VIDEO as a guide. Thedoughis forgiving and easy to work with.
One important finishing step for thecookiedoughis to evenly quarter thedoughinto discs before refrigerating it for a few hours or overnight. This sets the stage for four rounds ofcookiebaking, allowing you tobakethem off all at once, or save some discs ofdoughin the freezer to bakeat a later date. This reminds me of our ALL-BUTTERPIE CRUST; I always have two discs in myfreezerto whip up a pie on short notice. I envision keeping a few discs of thiscookiedoughin thefreezertoo because you never know when someone asks, “Got anycookies?”
COOKIEMAKING
Making the rugelachs is easy. For best results, we suggest having your tools and theingredientsfor the filling ready at your workstation before you start. So, have your canister of flour,rolling pin,jam, cinnamon,nuts, and sanding sugar measured, and make sure your egg is atroom temperature. It may be my type-A personality inoverdrive, but it will make sense as you go along, how it helps the process of assembling thesecookieshappen without incident.
ROLLING OUT THEDOUGH
Getting thedoughrolled out to a 10-inch circle shouldn’t be difficult.Sprinklea bit of flour on your work surface orpastryboard, flour your rolling pin, and get to it. It’s important to have a lightly floured surface to easily roll the disc outto an even, thin layer, about ⅛-inch thick. That said, practice does make perfect, and remember that three more discs are waiting in the wings. You’ll be a rugelach-making pro in no time.
FILLING
The filling for thesecookiesis a classic combination ofjam, spice, andnuts. I’m still thanking my lucky stars I hid a jar of my homemadeAPRICOT JAMafter making some last August. Using homemade fruitjamorapricotpreserves is always tastier than store-bought, giving thecookiestons of flavor. Don’t haveapricot jam? Try the recipe using homemade strawberry, raspberry, or rhubarbjam,or follow Bonnie’s dear friend Yotam Ottolenghi‘s lead and use quincejaminstead. I know what all you bakers out there are thinking…Nutellaandchocolate chips, right? You get the idea.
Filling thedoughis easy to accomplish. The first step is to toss the light orgolden brownsugar together with the toasted pecans andground cinnamonin a smallbowl. Some people add choppedwalnutsandraisinsinto the mix too, so feel free to tweak the filling to taste. Then simply spread thejamon the rolled disc ofdoughand add a sprinklingof thecinnamon-sugar-nutmixture. Easy!
CRESCENT ROLLS
Rolling up thecookiesisn’t difficult either, although we do have two suggestions on the process. Although you can cut each circle intoequal wedgesusing asharp knife, we discovered apizza cutterworked better in making clean, straight cuts. Additionally, we pulled each wedge out a bit from the round ofdoughbefore rolling eachcookie. This kept each rugelach neat and tidy before rolling them up intolittle crescents that look like little twists.
TOPPING
Take your time and carefullybrusheachcookiewith the lightly beaten egg. Note: it’s not just theegg yolk, right? Lightly whisk the yolk and white together. No need to have excessegg washspilling down thecookieand pooling on the parchment-linedbaking sheet.
Instead, add theegg washevenly over the top and sides of each crescent beforesprinklingthem with sparkling sanding sugar.
BAKE
We baked thecookiesjust as Bonnie directed, in a 350ºFovenfor 20 – 25 minutes,total time. Because the cottageovenis somewhat wonky, we rotated thebakingtray at halftime. Also worth mentioning, I baked off thecookiesone sheet at a time.
Here’s an interesting pro tip:cookiescan also be shaped and then frozen raw on the baking trays, and then stored inairtight containers. You can bakethe cookies directly from frozen, the only difference being they’ll take a few minutes longer to cook. Woot!
ENJOY THIS RULELACH RECIPE!
Once thecookiesare baked, the direction is to leave them to cool on the trays before transferring them towire racksto cool completely. We waited until they were just cool enough to handle before we lifted them from the baking tray. Moving the rugelach to thewire rackswhile they’re still warm stops any of the melted filling from clinging and hardening to thecookies.
Don’t forget, thiscookierecipe and thecookiesthemselves are meant to be shared. Package up rugelach in attractivecookieboxes or cello bags and give them out to those you love as gifts. They’ll love you for it!
Thesecookiesare so tasty, we suggest youPINthe recipe to a favourite dessert, baking or cookieboard onPINTERESTorBOOKMARKthis tab for easy access.SHAREit with friends so they can make them too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the scrumptious baking you’re making these days. Use#weekendatthecottagewhen you post those pics onFacebookandInstagram. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy BONNIE’SRUGELACH RECIPE!
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Bonnie’s Rugelach Recipe
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Ingredients
- For the pastry:
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cupunsalted butter, cold and cut into even-sized chunks
- 8 ounces full-fat, brick-stylecream cheese, cold, cut into even-sized chunks
- For the filling:
- 1 cup lightbrown sugar
- ½ cup finely chopped roasted pecans
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup best-qualityapricot jam
- For the glaze:
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¼ cup sanding sugar (course or sparkling sugar)
Directions
- Prepare thepastry: Cut the butter into the flour until crumbly. This can be done in afood processor, in a standmixerfitted with the paddle attachment, or in a largebowlwith apastryblender. Cut thecream cheeseinto themixtureuntil thedoughjust comes together. Divide thedoughinto four balls, flatten each to approximately a 4-inch round, wrap inplastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.
- Prepare the filling: In a smallbowl, combine thebrown sugar,nuts, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Preheat theovento 350°F and line twobaking sheetswithparchment paper. Remove thedoughfrom the refrigerator about 15 minutes before rolling. Roll each ball into a 10- to 11-inch circle, lightly flouring your work surface if necessary. The circles do not have to be perfect—if they aren’t as good as you would like them, do not re-roll, as in my experience, it never gets better. But you will get better at rolling out thedoughwith practice.
- Spread each circle with about 2 tablespoons ofjamandsprinklewith one-quarter of thebrown sugarmixture. Cut each circle into 12 wedges, as if you were cutting a pizza, or 16 if you want them smaller. Roll up each wedge from the outside/wide edge to the middle.
- Place rolled cookies on the linedbaking sheets. The unbaked, unglazedcookiescan be frozen flat on thebaking sheets, then transferred to resealable plastic bags once frozen, or you can freeze thecookiesonce baked. Ifbakingfrom frozen, they may take a few minutes longer to cook.
- To glaze,brusheachcookiewith beaten egg andsprinklewith coarse sugar.
- Bakefor 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned. Cool for about 10 minutes on thebaking sheet, then transfer to awire rackto cool completely. If a lot ofjamand sugar has oozed out, trim it off with scissors when cool. Thesecookiesfreeze well.
- BONNIE'S NOTE: If you are like me and think that more is better and always overstuff things, resist the temptation to do that here. Any extrajamorbrown sugarwill just ooze out of the rugelach when theybakeand could burn.
Related by Recipe Type
- Desserts
Related by Ingredient
- Apricot Jam
- Butter
- Cinnamon
- Cream Cheese
- Eggs
- Light Brown Sugar
- Pecans
- Sanding Sugar
- Unbleached Flour
