September 8, 2011(updated February 15, 2022) by Zoë François | cookies, recipe
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My maternal great great grandmother, Shirley Sierra (the name given to her at Ellis Island), had a bakery in Kiev, Russia (now part of Ukraine). She moved to Brooklyn, NY at the turn of the 20th century and continued her “bakery” there. It wasn’t a shop as we imagine now, it was just her, baking in her apartment. According to my 92 year old grandmother, Sarah Berkowitz, her Bubbe would make rugelach, challah, strudel and all kinds of Jewish baked goods for her family and neighbors. She described their small apartment kitchen as stacked high with goodies, which in the depression must have been a welcome sight.
This morning when I told my grandmother that I was baking rugelach with raspberry preserves and chocolate, she said that was “way too modern for her tastes.” She prefers hers stuffed with chopped prunes and raisins. None of Bubbe Shirley’s recipes exist today, no one even remembers if they were written down way back when. Until recently I got a steady supply of rugelach from a bakery in town, but when they shut their doors I was determined to create my own recipe. After several attempts, all of which were tasty, but not quite ready for prime time, I landed on this recipe. The dough is soft and tender, with just a slight zip from the cream cheese and zest, which is a perfect compliment to the sweet fillings. Eating them brings back great memories.
How to Make Rugelach
See how to make them in the photos that follow, with the full recipe at the bottom of the post!
In a Food Processor cream together the cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add the lemon, zest and vanilla and pulse again to combine.
Add the flour and pulse the dough until it comes together in a soft ball. Divide the ball in two discs and refrigerate for about one hour or overnight. Dough can be frozen for about 3 weeks or until you remember that it is in there.
Preheat oven to 350°F. On a well floured surface, roll the dough to about an 1/8-inch thick round.
Cover with about 1/2 cup of the preserves. Use a Pastry Wheel to cut the dough into 16 equal pieces. I cut the dough into quarters, then cut those in half, and then half those pieces.
Sprinkle on the nuts and/or chocolate if you are using. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Use a knife or the pastry wheel to make a small slit at the wide end of the piece of dough.
Roll the dough up, starting at the wide end, and slightly flare the split seam so that the ends are a touch wider. This will give your crescents a nicer shape.
Continue to roll the dough until the pointy end is tucked under the cookie. Repeat with the rest of the pieces, working rather quickly so the dough doesn’t get too sticky.
Place them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment and lightly greased.
Brush the tops with a small amount of heavy cream.
Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are light golden-brown. Remove the cookies from the sheet while they are still warm, so they will not stick to the parchment. Allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Call your grandmother and get all of her recipes, so they don’t disappear!I’m wrapping up the rest of these cookies to send to her.
My gorgeous grandmother, Sarah Berkowitz, at 92!
Rugelach
Rugelach are little filled pastries from Jewish baking. I made mine with raspberry, nuts and chocolate wrapped in cream cheese dough— perfect bites that balance sweetness with a little zest.
1cupchocolate shavingsbittersweet, semisweet or milk
¼cupcinnamon sugar mix¼ cup sugar with 1 tbsp cinnamon
For the Top
1/4cupheavy cream
sugarfor sprinkling on top
Instructions
In aFood Processorcream together the cream cheese, butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add the lemon, zest and vanilla and pulse again to combine.
Add the flour and pulse the dough until it comes together in a soft ball. Divide the ball in two discs and refrigerate for about one hour or overnight. Dough can be frozen for about 3 weeks or until you remember that it is in there.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
On a well floured surface, roll the dough to about an 1/8-inch thick round.
Cover with about 1/2 cup of the preserves. Use aPastry Wheelto cut the dough into 16 equal pieces. I cut the dough into quarters, then cut those in half, and then half those pieces.
Sprinkle on the nuts and/or chocolate if you are using. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Use a knife or the pastry wheel to make a small slit at the wide end of the piece of dough.
Roll the dough up, starting at the wide end, and slightly flare the split seam so that the ends are a touch wider. This will give yourcrescentsa nicer shape.
Continue to roll the dough until the pointy end is tucked under the cookie. Repeat with the rest of the pieces, working rather quickly so the dough doesn’t get too sticky.
Place them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment and lightly greased.
Brush the tops with a small amount of heavy cream.
Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are light golden-brown.
Remove the cookies from the sheet while they are still warm, so they will not stick to the parchment. Allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Rugelach are a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish treat made from a sweet yeast dough folded over a filling of your choice. Although the American version uses Cream Cheese for the dough, these Israeli-style Rugelach are made from a yeasted enriched dough that is quite similar to a Babka.
Yiddish for “little twists” or “rolled things,” rugelach have become a popular dessert in America, enjoyed by Jews and non-Jews alike. They descend from an Eastern European pastry known as kipfel, which is a croissant-like cookie made with flour, butter, sour cream, sugar, and yeast.
Some people make Rugelach that looks like Schnecken but it's the dough that really makes the difference. Schnecken is made with sour cream, whereas Rugelach is made with Cream Cheese.
Storage: Rugelach will keep at room temperature for 3 days (wrapped tightly) or 1 to 2 weeks longer in the refrigerator. Freezer: Freeze the discs of dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe. Or freeze the shaped Rugelach cookies for up to 3 months.
Satiny soft dough made with butter, cream cheese, and sour cream wrapped around a filling of sugar, nuts, and dried fruit: that's rugelach, which in Yiddish means "little twists." Beloved in many Jewish communities, these cookies flake like a Danish or croissant with its buttery flavor the perfect foil for the sweet ...
Rugelach (/ˈruːɡələx/ ROO-gəl-əkh; Yiddish: ראגעלעך, or Yiddish: רוגעלעך, romanized: rugelekh and Hebrew: רוגלך rōgalaḵ) is a filled baked confection originating in the Jewish communities of Poland.
Babka is a yeast bread that is rolled with chocolate filling. It's usually made in a loaf pan. Rugelach is rolled like croissants. The main differences between the two of them are their shape and the type of dough they use.
It is popular in Israel and among Jews around the world. Rugelach is made by rolling a triangle of dough around a sweet filling, such as nuts, chocolate, jam, or poppy seeds. The name rugelach means “l*ttle twists” or “l*ttle corners” in Yiddish, because of the shape of the pastry.
Rugelach (or Ruglulach) is a Jewish pastry of Ashkenazi origin and is made with a cream cheese dough and different fillings that can include raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, chocolate, or apricot jam preserve.
Because Judith saved the Jews from a death order, many Jews honor her by eating cheese and dairy dishes: rugelach, blintzes, cheesecake, cheese latkes, even sour cream on potato latkes.
"Schnecken means “snails,” which is what these coiled buns resemble. They are much stickier, puffier, gooier and generally more over the top than ordinary Cinnamon Buns.
Rugelach and schnecken are the subject of much confusion in the world of Jewish baking. They are both treats made from the combination of cookie or yeast dough and are filled with different ingredients, like ground nuts, raisins, and jam.
Cream cheese fillings are also a popular choice and make these little bites of deliciousness even more decadent and melt-in-your-mouth. Traditionally, Rugelach is eaten on the Jewish Sabbath, but it can also be enjoyed all year round, and makes a lovely gift to give to celebrate Hannukah or any other holiday.
You can freeze rugelach pastries before or after baking them. Before baking, you can freeze them on a parchment-lined baking sheet until frozen. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Using a pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut the dough into twelve equal wedges (just like you would cut a pizza). Roll each wedge up, beginning with the wide end and ending with the point.Place the rolls point-side down, about an inch apart, on the prepared baking sheets.Repeat with the remaining dough.
Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.
If you love chocolate, you'll this Chocolate Rugelach - a bite-sized cookie made with a cream cheese dough and filled with dark chocolate. They're flaky, buttery, chocolatey, and absolutely delicious. They're the perfect Christmas cookie, but can be made any time of the year.
Babka originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in the early 19th century. Part bread, part cake, the name is thought to derive from a popular Easter cake made in Poland called “baba” which means “grandmother” in Polish.
While not all croissants and cookies have a filling, rugelach is always filled. A popular filling is chocolate ganache. So have the filling on hand before diving into construction.
There's always an egg dish involved (whatever style you prefer or even shakshuka!), fresh salads (including Israeli salad of course), cheeses, spreads (including fish such as tuna or herring), breads, hummus, tehina, labaneh, butter and jelly, the list goes on!
How different is the Israeli shawarma from shawarmas from other countries? Usually made from turkey meat, not lamb. Unless otherwise labeled. Chicken “pargiot” and beef are also popular.
Hobby: Flower arranging, Yo-yoing, Tai chi, Rowing, Macrame, Urban exploration, Knife making
Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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