I have been baking rugelach for at least 25 years. It all started when I worked in a bakery just north of Sausalito, California. We did everything by hand there and the rugelach dough was rolled out into large circles, topped with butter, cinnamon sugar, chopped walnuts and currants. Each round was cut into 12 wedges and then rolled up into crescents. We made them by the hundreds and after the first taste, I was hooked.
Over the years, I have made rugelach to sell in my bakery and to give as gifts during the holidays. While the purpose of making them has changed from time to time, one thing hasn’t, the filling; I always made them with the same combination of ingredients that I first learned years ago. Whenever I would see them for sale with jam fillings, I was always so excited by the choices but in reality, disappointed by the results. I’ve always thought that cinnamon sugar, walnuts (or pecans) and currants make the perfect filling but this week’s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers put that filling combination to the test.
Upon reading the ingredient list for the filling, I was completely skeptical, a little worried actually; my mother was visiting and she would be tasting them too. While sharing rugelach with your mom sounds harmless, keep in mind that rugelach is one of her favorite things and she likes them the way I make them; no filling upgrades needed or wanted. How could I possibly dump chocolate, coconut and cherries into her idea of perfection? So I compromised. After mixing up a double batch of dough so I could send mom home with a plate of goodies, I rolled out the first portion with cinnamon sugar, pecans and currants. For the second portion, I combined cinnamon sugar, coconut and chocolate chips.
The directions call for rolling out a very thin sheet of dough that is 12″x6″ and then topped and shaped into a foot long spiral that is about an inch or so thick as well as tall. If you cut them as instructed, you get a lot of single bite pastries making this a great treat to give as gifts or share at a cookie swap. But for rugelach connoisseurs like us, bite sized wasn’t going to cut it.
The secret to perfect rugelach, use lots of flour to roll it out but brush it off both sides or it will make them taste doughy.
As I mentioned, I compromised, I added currants rather than cherries but kept the coconut, pecans and chocolate and spread them over a liberal dusting of cinnamon sugar.
In my opinion, the more pronounced the spiral, the better the flavors blend. To achieve this, I rolled out the rectangle of dough a little wider so that mine was about 12″x 8″ and only about 1/8″ thick. Despite this fact, the dough was still cool enough to work with and it rolled up easily.
One step I completely eliminated was to freeze the rolled and filled dough. Honestly, that sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. With my spiral still on the table, I quickly cut it into thick slices, on the bias. This change affected the yield greatly; my batch of dough only made about 18 thick slices.
One other change I made, no egg wash. The leftover melted butter wasn’t going to be wasted on my watch and I brushed it over each roll along with a dusting of cinnamon sugar before they went into the oven.
Once again, the recipe called for baking the rolls at 400F and that worried me. When I prepared the last Baking Chez Moi recipe, Cranberry Crackle Tart, the instructions to bake at 400F turned out badly for me. Perhaps the oven in our new home is a little hot, or maybe Dorie’s oven is a little cool, either way, I wasn’t taking any chances and I baked them at 375F. Oddly enough, at this temperature, they baked in the time called for in the recipe. Looks like I will be paying close attention to the oven temperature in the recipes from now on!
And as Dorie suggests, the perfect companion to a cup of tea on a dreary winter day.
To see what the other bakers came up with, be sure to visit the Tuesdays with Dorie website and if you like, buy one of the two books we are baking from and bake along with us!
Lovely! I really like the idea of cutting on the bias. One for my notes!
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Your process photos are so wonderful, I love how you filled the dough and also how you cut the pieces. Very nice. Fun to hear about your history with this cookie and I learned a lot just from reading it all…thanks for sharing! Your cookies look wonderful.
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These look fantastic … Hope to get a chance to do these soon.
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I enjoyed reading your tips for this recipe. I’m sure your mom enjoyed eating these!
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I like all of the chnages that you made – your finished cookies look terrific.
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I love the cinnamon-sugar topping and your cookies are so pretty cut on the diagonal.
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I like all the various tips also, very helpful. Your rugelach looks wonderful, and quite delicious.
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Your cookies are beautiful. I’m jealous of how perfectly you rolled out the dough. I agree with you on oven temperatures. I’ve had to reduce the temperature on each recipe so far.
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Oops…I hit send before I finished typing in my website so I’ll try again. Your cookies are beautiful! I’m jealous of how perfectly you rolled out the dough. I agree with you on oven temps, I’ve had to reduce the temperature by 25 degrees on all the recipes so far.
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Baking these little royal cookies for 25 years! It certainly shows in your beautiful photos. I giggled when I saw the photo with the ruler :-), I did the same thing and didn’t realize anyone else out there would have their measuring sticks out as well. Too good, thank you for the smile. I enjoyed reading your process and am wondering what your Mom thought of the adjusted recipe?
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Beautiful rugelach …like your photos and appreciate the baking tips 🙂
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I have such a hard time finding currants here but that sounds lovely. I also like the idea of cutting them at an angle. These look great.
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I loved reading your blog! Your rugelach looks beautiful!
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They look beautiful! I love them cut on the bias! Lovely post!
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“Bite-sized wasn’t going to cut it” — exactly! And I think I’ll try your idea of rolling out the pastry more, the next time I make this recipe.
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I make my Rugelach the same way you do from a friend’s old, old recipe. I was also a little iffy with the filling. I like the way you cut yours. I doubles the amount of dough, so I will try your technique with the next batch! Thanks!
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I loved the shape of your cookies. I’ll definitely slice these ones into wider cookies next time.
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I really love your blog! Your posts are all amazing 🙂 I am so glad I got to discover you ❤
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thanks-be sure to visit again!
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