Pecan Date Rugelach – Jewish Pastry Crescents (Cook’s Illustrated Inspired) | Rugelach mit Datteln und Pekannüssen

Rugelach – Jewish Pastry Crescents (Cook’s Illustrated Inspired)

Traditional Jewish rugelach – tender, flaky pastries filled with cinnamon, nuts, and jam. A classic recipe from Cook’s Illustrated with cream cheese dough and easy freezing tips.

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Introduction

Rugelach (Hebrew: רוגלך‎) are beautiful, crescent-shaped pastries of Jewish Ashkenazic origin. The name comes from Yiddish, meaning “a little twist” — and that’s exactly what they are: buttery rolled cookies filled with nuts, jam, and cinnamon.

They’re found in bakeries worldwide and known by many names — Kipfel in Germany, Kifli in Hungary, and even cream cheese horns in America. Traditionally, rugelach dough was pareve (without dairy), but in the U.S., the addition of cream cheese created the rich, tender version we know today.

This recipe comes from America’s Test Kitchen (Cook’s Illustrated Holiday Baking 2009) — a wonderfully precise version that produces soft, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth rugelach every time.

I used chopped dates and pecans for my filling, but you can also try walnuts, chocolate, or apricot preserves.

Enjoy,
Alissa

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Rugelach

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Holiday Baking 2009

Dough

• 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ tbsp sugar

• ¼ tsp salt

• 16 tbsp (225 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

• 8 oz (225 g) cold cream cheese, cut into pieces

• 2 tbsp sour cream

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Filling

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (I use Saigon cinnamon)

• ⅔ cup apricot preserves (briefly processed to smooth out chunks)

• 1 cup raisins (or chopped dates, cherries, cranberries, or prunes)

• 2 ¼ cups finely chopped walnuts or pecans

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Glaze

• 2 large egg yolks

• 2 tbsp milk

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Instructions

1. Prepare the Dough:
   Place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine.
   Add butter, cream cheese, and sour cream. Pulse 16 times (1-second bursts) until dough forms small curds (like cottage cheese).
   Turn dough onto a surface, shape into a 9x6" log, cut into four equal portions, and flatten into 4½" disks.
   Roll each between two sheets of plastic wrap into 8½" circles.
   Stack the circles on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes (or up to 1 month in a Ziploc bag).

2. Make the Filling:
   Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
   Working with one dough round at a time, spread 2½ tbsp apricot preserves, sprinkle ¼ cup raisins, 2 tbsp cinnamon sugar, and ½ cup nuts in that order. Pat down gently.

3. Shape the Rugelach:
   Cut each circle into 8 wedges.
   Roll each wedge into a crescent shape, starting from the wide end.
   Place crescents 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
   Freeze for 15 minutes (you can freeze unbaked rugelach for up to 6 weeks).

4. Glaze and Bake:
   Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
   Whisk yolks and milk together, brush over frozen rugelach.
   Bake 21–23 minutes, rotating trays halfway through, until lightly golden and puffed.
   Immediately sprinkle each cookie with cinnamon sugar and transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool.

Storage: Keep in an airtight tin for up to 4 days.

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Variations

Rugelach Rolls:
Roll the dough into 11x7" rectangles, spread filling, roll into logs, chill 15 minutes, then slice and bake.

Chocolate-Walnut Rugelach:
Skip the preserves and raisins, and use 1 cup mini chocolate chips mixed with the nuts.

Rugelach

Adapted by Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking 2009

Dough

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

16 tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces

8 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

2 tbsp sour cream

Filling

1 cup of sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon ( i use Saigon)

2/3 cup apricot preserves, processed briefly in food processor to break up large chunks (or your favorite preserve)

1 cup raisins, preferably golden (or chopped dried prunes, dried cherries, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, chopped dates)

2 1/4 cups walnuts or pecan, chopped fine

Glaze

2 large egg yolks

2 tbsp milk

1. For den Dough: place flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse ingredients to combine. add butter, cream cheese, and sour cream; process until dough comes together in small, uneven pebbles the size of cottage cheese curds, about sixteen 1 second pulses. Turn mixture onto work surface, press into 9- by 6- long log, divide log into 4 equal portions and press each into a 41/2-inch disk. Place each disk between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll out to form 81/2 inch circle. Stack dough circles on a plate and freeze 30 min (or up to a month, stored in Ziploc freezer bag).

2.For the Filling: Meanwhile, mix sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Line 2 large, heavy rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with one round at a time, remove dough from freezer and spread 2 1/2 tbsp preserves, 1/4 cup raisins, 2 tbsp cinnamon sugar, and 1/2 cup nuts, in that order, over dough; pat down gently with your fingers. cut dough round into 8 wedges. Roll each wedge into a crescent shape and place crescents 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Freeze crescents for 15 min. (once you assembled them you can freeze rugelach for up to 6 weeks before baking. when they come out of the oven they will taste every bit as good as made the same day!)

3. To Glaze and bake the Rugelach: Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle position and heat oven to 375°F. Whisk egg yolks and milk in small bowl until smooth. Brush tops and sides of frozen crescents with egg and milk mix. Bake crescents until pale gold and slightly puffed, 21-23 min, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Immediately sprinkle each cookie with scant tsp cinnamon sugar, carefully transfer hot, fragile cookies to a wire rack using a wide metal spatula. Rugelach can be stored in airtight container up to 4 days.

Roulade shaped Rugelach: Follow recipe for crescent with raisin filling, rolling dough int four 11-by 7-inch rectangles. Proceed as directed, rolling and cutting roulades. Freeze roulades 15 min then bake as directed.

Rugelach with Walnut Chocolate Filling: Follow recipe for either crescents or rolls omitting apricot preserve (or any other preserve) and substitute 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate mini chips for raisins.

Rugelach – Jüdisches Gebäck mit Zimt und Nüssen

Gestern bekam ich Überraschungspost aus den USA – meine Freundin Lisa hat mir das Cook’s Illustrated Weihnachtsbackheft 2009 geschickt.
Ich liebe diese Zeitschrift, weil sie werbefrei, gründlich getestet und wunderbar präzise ist. Besonders die Backrezepte sind perfekt erklärt: warum ein Eigelb mehr oder weniger etwas verändert, wie Butter oder Frischkäse wirken – faszinierend!

Ich habe mich mit einer Tasse Tee hingesetzt und war sofort begeistert vom Rezept für Rugelach – kleine jüdische Hörnchen aus zartem Teig, gefüllt mit Nüssen, Zimt und Marmelade.

Meine Version: mit Datteln und Pecannüssen – zart, mürbe und himmlisch. Man kann sie auch mit Marzipan, Schokolade oder Mohnfüllung zubereiten.

Viel Freude beim Backen,
Alissa

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Zutaten

Teig:

• 2½ Tassen Mehl (z. B. Dinkelmehl)

• 1½ EL Zucker

• ¼ TL Salz

• 16 EL kalte Butter (gewürfelt)

• 1 Packung Frischkäse (kalt, gewürfelt)

• 2 EL Saure Sahne

Füllung:

• 1 Tasse Zucker

• 1 EL Zimt

• ⅔ Tasse Aprikosenmarmelade (püriert)

• 1 Tasse Rosinen oder gehackte Trockenfrüchte (z. B. Datteln)

• 2¼ Tassen gehackte Nüsse (z. B. Walnüsse oder Pecannüsse)

Glasur:

• 2 Eigelb

• 2 EL Milch

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Zubereitung

1. Teig:
   Mehl, Zucker und Salz in der Küchenmaschine mischen.
   Butter, Frischkäse und Saure Sahne dazugeben und kurz mixen, bis sich der Teig verbindet (nicht zu lange).
   Teig zu einem Rechteck formen, in 4 Teile teilen und jede Portion zwischen Frischhaltefolie rund ausrollen (ca. 21 cm).
   30 Min einfrieren.

2. Füllung & Formen:
   Zucker und Zimt mischen. Eine Teigplatte nach der anderen bearbeiten: Marmelade verstreichen, Früchte und Nüsse darauf geben, leicht andrücken, in Achtel schneiden und zu Hörnchen rollen.
   Hörnchen auf das Backblech legen und 15 Min einfrieren.

3. Backen:
   Ofen auf 180°C vorheizen.
   Eigelb und Milch verrühren, auf die gefrorenen Hörnchen streichen.
   21–23 Min goldbraun backen.
   Direkt nach dem Backen mit Zimtzucker bestreuen und auf einem Gitter auskühlen lassen.

Haltbarkeit: Bis zu 4 Tage in einer Blechdose.