Rugelach for dummies?

March 7, 2012 12:25 PM

Tips and recipes for perfect rugelach?

I would like to make perfect rugelach at home, since it is more or less unavailable in stores where I live. Please hit me with your best recipe and tips for making it maximally delicious. Assume a well-equipped kitchen, including a food processor, stand mixer, etc. and a reasonably experienced baker.

The ex-New Yorker I live with thanks you.

posted by charmedimsure to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

I would definitely start with Ina (Rosenberg) Garten's recipe. The dough is pretty forgiving.
posted by bcwinters at 12:51 PM on March 7, 2012

I have used this recipe from Epicurious several times. The recipe makes a lot of rugelach, so I usually freeze at least half the batch after they are all rolled up and bake them off throughout the holiday season. No need to defrost, just top them with a little milk and cinnamon sugar before baking, they just take a little longer in the oven.

Also, I use a pizza cutter to slice up the dough into the triangles, much easier than using a knife.
posted by blacktshirtandjeans at 1:17 PM on March 7, 2012

Smitten Kitchen has a great rugelach recipe. I usually make it over a few days though, leaving the dough in the fridge overnight (as opposed to the 3 hours recommended).
posted by valoius at 1:28 PM on March 7, 2012

I went through a phase a year or two ago when I made about eight batches of rugelach in a month. Here's what I learned:

• Prepare the dough at least a day in advance -- each step is easy on its own, but put them together and it becomes a much bigger project.
• The dough can stay in the fridge for well over a week with no loss of quality.
• But leave it out at room temperature for forty-five minutes or so before rolling out, so that you can roll it thin enough.
• Jam and nuts makes an excellent filling, without anything else.
• If you slice them thin and cook them on their sides (flipping once), they become more like these pinwheels. The look and the texture are slightly different, so it's sort of like getting two cookies for the price of one.
• Using floss to cut them doesn't squash them down as much as using a knife.

Happy baking!
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:09 PM on March 7, 2012

Response by poster: I did try this a while ago- no recollection of the recipe used- and the results were...gluey. I assumed overhandling? Yes?
posted by charmedimsure at 8:29 PM on March 7, 2012