Oh my goodness, these are so good. I love rugelach and these may be the best I’ve ever eaten.
It’s the cream cheese dough that makes them so tender and flaky, and it helps that I used Bonne Maman brand raspberry preserves for the filling. Listening to a podcast interview with Joan Nathan (an acclaimed cookbook author and respected chef/writer) I loved hearing about the provenance of this recipe. Joan’s mother’s recipe used a simple dough that is very Jewish-traditional . . . then she visited a Jewish bakery in Montreal, Hof Kelsten. She tried to get the baker to give her the recipe – he said no – but he did tell her the ingredients. But she had tried using a cream cheese dough on her own rugelach and had liked it a lot. But having it confirmed by the master baker – that’s when Joan decided that rugelach needs cream cheese in the dough and she’s been making them that way ever since. Joan has a new cookbook out called My Life in Recipes, which is more about her own recipe history than all of her other books have been. I have the book on hold at the library but it’ll be a long wait. This recipe was available online at The Splendid Table.
The dough (butter, cream cheese, flour, salt) is mixed up in a stand mixer, refrigerated, then divided into 4 portions, each rolled out to about a 9×12″ sheet (very thin, about 1/8″), then it’s spread with those good raspberry preserves and toasted walnuts. You roll it up the rugelach (long side) and use the side of your hand to divide each roll into 8 portions. Refrigerate them for an hour, then bake. Only thing unusual is that the oven is heated to 400, but as soon as you put the cookies in the oven you turn down the heat to 350. Easy enough.
The other thing she adds is vanilla sugar on top of each cookie. I made a half batch (2 cups sugar, a small sliced-open vanilla bean, scraping out all those tiny vanilla beans, then adding it all to the sugar container. It sat overnight before I used it to sprinkle on top of each unbaked rugelach.
It’s the using the edge of your hand to divide the dough that’s unusual. Ever since she learned that technique, she’s been doing that way ever since. It makes the rugelach almost a sealed pocket, although many of mine did not remain a pocket. But it makes no difference since it’s all about the taste. If some of the jam leaks out, oh well. You’ll love it anyway.
What’s GOOD: every little thing about the cookie was divine. The crispy, flaky pastry, to the raspberry filling. Even the caramelized jam that oozed was delicious. I can’t say enough good things about this cookie. According to Joan Nathan, raspberry rugelach are the only ones to make, not any other flavor. Period. I trust her judgment.
What’s NOT: really nothing, although if you make the vanilla sugar, you’ll need to start the day before. And you need to refrigerate the raw dough a few hours, and refrigerate the prepared cookies for an hour before baking. So you can’t just mix, roll out, fill, cut and bake.
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Rugelach with Raspberry Walnut Filling
Recipe: Joan Nathan
Servings: 32
8 ounces cream cheese — (227 grams) at room temperature
1 cup unsalted butter — (2 sticks/227 grams) at room temperature
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour — (250 grams)
1 Pinch salt
1 cup raspberry jam — use a good-quality kind, or strawberry preserves
3/4 cup walnuts — (75 grams) toasted and finely chopped (but leave some slightly larger chunks)
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar — for sprinkling
1. Put the cream cheese, butter, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream until blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the flour and salt and mix until a very soft dough is formed, about 1 more minute. Scrape the dough into a rectangle and onto a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough into four rectangles, then pat each into a rough square. Roll one piece into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (roughly 9 by 12 inches). Spoon a fourth of the jam onto the rectangle, then spread it almost to the edge, leaving about a 1/2-inch border all around. Sprinkle on 1/4 of the nuts.
3. Roll the dough up along the long side, like a jelly roll, tucking in the ends and positioning it seam side down. Using the side of your hand like a knife, cut the roll into eight pieces (this causes the dough to crimp partially shut, whereas an actual knife would create a more spiraled appearance). Gently separate each one and place the slices on the prepared baking sheets, repeating with the remaining dough and filling. You should have sixteen cookies per baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F with two oven racks in the middle. Remove the rugelach from the refrigerator, and use your fingers to crimp the edges shut. (Any jam that oozes out will caramelize beautifully, so don’t worry about that.) Sprinkle the cookies generously with the vanilla sugar. Put the sheets into the oven, and immediately decrease the temperature to 350°F. Bake for 15 minutes, then swap the baking sheets, rotate them back to front, and bake for about 15 minutes more, or until the rugelach are golden on top. Transfer them to racks to cool.
5. VANILLA SUGAR: Put about 4 cups of sugar in a bowl or a glass jar with a lid. Take a vanilla-bean pod and carefully cut down the length, flicking out the beans from the center of the vanilla. Submerge the pods in the sugar, close the jar, and let it infuse for at least a day. Use it whenever you want to make a pastry with vanilla, even if the recipe doesn’t call for it, or if you wish to sprinkle it on your rugelach.
Per Serving: 173 Calories; 12g Fat (59.3% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 22mg Cholesterol; 67mg Sodium; 7g Total Sugars; 0mcg Vitamin D; 16mg Calcium; 1mg Iron; 53mg Potassium; 38mg Phosphorus.
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