Cranberry Orange Rugelach Recipes

CRANBERRY RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the softened butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead for 3 minutes or until smooth. Divide into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a ball; flatten into a 4-in. circle. Wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour., In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cranberries, walnuts, melted butter, cinnamon and allspice. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 portion of dough into an 8-in. circle. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of filling to within 1/2 in. of edges. Cut into 8 wedges. , Roll up wedges from the wide end and place point side down 2 in. apart on foil-lined baking sheets. Curve ends to form a crescent shape. Brush with egg; sprinkle with additional sugar. , Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

CRANBERRY-PECAN RUGELACH

Steps:

• With electric mixer (beater), cream together butter and cream cheese. With mixer on low, gradually add in flour. Form into 3 squat disks. Wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, cover the cranberries with water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool. Drain. In a small bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into a 10-inch circles. Paint with the melted butter. Sprinkle with the sugar/nut mixture and cranberries. With a pizza wheel, cut into 12 wedges. Roll up the wedges and line them up on a parchment lined or nonstick cookie sheet. Paint the rugelach with the egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes or set and light golden.

CRANBERRY ORANGE RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a food processor, process walnuts until finely chopped, about 10 1-second pulses. Combine with remaining filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• In food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse twice to combine. Add cream cheese and butter. Process until mixture resembles coarse meal and almost begins to hold together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until it forms a cohesive mass. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, then flatten into a disc. Wrap each piece in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats. Combine apricot preserves with orange juice. Microwave 30 seconds or until thin enough to spread.
• Working with one disc at a time on a floured surface, roll out into a 9" circle. Brush with 1 T apricot mixture, then sprinkle with 1/4 cranberry mixture (if using a scale, this should be roughly 2 1/2 ounces). Using a long knife or pizza wheel, cut disc in quarters, then cut each quarter into 3 equal pieces. Starting from the wide end, roll each piece up, pressing lightly to seal. Place cookies, point side down, on prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover sheets with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Beat egg with water. Stir cinnamon into sugar. Remove sheets from oven. Brush cookies with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake cookies in center of oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a rack. Store uneaten cookies (!) in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

ORANGE WALNUT RUGELACH

Steps:

• To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar and kosher salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the cubed butter, distributing it all over the top of the dry ingredients, and dollop in the cream cheese (1-inch dollops should do it, but it doesn't need to be perfect). Turn the mixer on low and stir until the mixture is mostly mealy and there are still some larger clumps of butter and cream cheese intact. Continue mixing and add the yolks, vanilla and almond extract if using. Continue mixing until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half and shape into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
• Mix the marmalade, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl and set aside.
• To form the rugelach, working with one dough disc at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface, dusting with flour as needed to prevent it from sticking, until it is a wide rectangle, 18-by-9-inches. Use an offset spatula to spread on half of the marmalade in a thin even layer, leaving a 1-inch border along the long edge that's furthest from you. Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of the walnuts. Brush the 1-inch border with a thin layer of egg wash and then start on the end closest to you and roll the dough into a long tight log, placing it seam-side down. Transfer to a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days (depending on fridge space, you might want to cut the log in half so you're dealing with 4 shorter logs as opposed to 2 really long ones). If you're only refrigerating for an hour or 2, no need to cover the logs. If longer than that, cover with plastic wrap.
• To bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush the logs with a thin layer of egg wash, sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky salt, the remaining 1/4 cup walnuts and the colorful sugar or sprinkles if using. Cut into 1 1/2-inch slices and transfer to the baking sheets, 1-inch apart. Bake until golden brown on top; begin checking for doneness at 24 minutes. (You might notice that the cookies seem to sweat and leak out some fat while in the oven, this is completely normal.) Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or enjoy them warm! Leftovers can be stored at room temp for several days.