Friday, February 5, 2010

Who needs dinner when you can eat rugelach?


I was scrounging around in my freezer today, looking for something for dinner. I didn't find anything I wanted for dinner, but I did find a batch of rugelach dough. Score! I made the dough for Dorie Greenspan's rugelach around Christmas. We had so many other cookies and dessert at Christmas that I never finished the rugelach.  Today was cold, gray, and dreary. The thought of freshly baked rugelach filled with nuts and fruit was just the thing to put a smile on my face!
You can fill you rugelach dough with almost anything you like. I used several different fillings for mine. I filled some of mine with apricot jam, pecans, currants, and chopped chocolate. I filled some with apricot jam, chopped dried apricots, and pecans. Then, in honor of World Nutella Day, I filled a some with Nutella. There's no wrong way to eat Nutella!!!


 Just look at those chocolate chunks!

Rugelach
(From Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours)
(Printable Recipe)
Ingredients:
For the dough
4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling
2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds)
1/4 cup plump, moist dried currants
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

For the glaze
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cold water
2 tablespoons sugar, preferably coarse sugar

Method:

For the dough 

Let the cream cheese and butter rest on counter for 10 minutes. It should be slightly softened but cool.
Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine for 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds. Do not work the dough too long that it forms a ball on the blade. Remove the dough from the food processor, divide into half, shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to a day. (Wrap airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

To make the filling 

Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or microwave until it liquefies. Mix sugar and cinnamon together.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

To shape the cookies 

 Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar.  Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the chopped chocolate and half of the currants. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch. Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles.The easiest way to do this is to cut into quarters, then cut each quarters into 4 pieces. Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each triangle becomes a little crescent. 
Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (The cookies can be refrigerate overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.)
 Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

To glaze 

Stir the egg and water together. Brush a bit of the glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar. Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

In case you didn't know today is World Nutella Day! Yes Nutella is so wonderful it deserves it's own day!!
Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso solemnly declare Friday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2010″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella. So here is my submission to the cause! Long live Nutella!! (yes I love it!)





Nutella filled rugelach

19 comments:

Bob said...

Awesome. Man, I haven't had rugelach in ages, I need to make some.

Joanne said...

I made rugelach for the first time not so long ago and fell in love! It's so much better homemade. My filling was very similar to yours except that I used cranberries instead of currants! Don't you just love finding things like this in teh freezer...

Whats Cookin Italian Style Cuisine said...

Nutella Rugelach why have them any other way this is genious/!

apparentlyjessy said...

Your Rugelach looks delicious! I love Nutella, thank goodness it comes in BIG jars!

grace said...

there's no wrong way to eat nutella, true. there's also no wrong way to fill rugelach, and your selections sound terrific. forget dinner!

Barbara Bakes said...

I'm in love with the idea of Nutella and Rugelach! Definitely a dinner I could love!

Barbara said...

No need for dinner, you're absolutely right!
I could chow down on these for days. And they freeze really well too. I've made them, but only the classic recipe. Can't wait to try your variations!

Donalyn said...

Beautiful photos & food! I hope you will come and check out dessertstalking.com and submit some of your food photography for our viewers to enjoy! thanks - Donalyn

Cherine said...

your rugelach looks delicious!!!

Stella said...

I used to work for a Jewish bakery that made these-they were so good. Yours look just like them!

The Food Hunter said...

agreed...who needs dinner!

The Food Hunter said...

agreed...who needs dinner

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Mmmm, my eyes are in heaven and my tummy is jealous!

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

You did really well in baking these rugelach.

Anonymous said...

omg i cant believe i missed this recipe out from the book!
i need to start flipping it again.
this looks great!

smilinggreenmom said...

I can't believe how yummy these look! I have been trying so hard to gather new recipes and try new things - and I keep hearing about Nutella? I better read up more to find out about this one! I love Kamut Khorasan Wheat so so much and it is just so nutritious too which is important to our family - so I want to try this using Kamut instead of the AP flour :) Fingers crossed! Thank you!!

cookeaze said...

Very satisfying and extraordinary preparation!Thanks for the recipe..

Jane said...

Love your recipes and photos!

Delishhh said...

Those look so good. i will have to try these. I am new to the food blog world but have been reading them for years. I hope to create a blog as nice as your. http://www.delishhh.com