Date Walnut Rugelach Recipes

DATE-FILLED RUGELACH

Steps:

• Place first four ingredients in a small heavy saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Cool completely., Place flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add cream cheese; pulse just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half; shape each into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour., Preheat oven to 350°. Mix cinnamon and remaining sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a 12-in. circle. Spread each with half of the date mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar mixture and 3 tablespoons walnuts. Cut each into 16 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide ends; place 2 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets., Bake until light golden brown, 25-28 minutes. Cool on pans 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

RUGELACH

Steps:

• Cream the cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the salt, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough out onto a well-floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters, wrap each piece in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• To make the filling, combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the raisins, and walnuts.
• On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a 9-inch circle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons apricot preserves and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the filling. Press the filling lightly into the dough. Cut the circle into 12 equal wedges?cutting the whole circle in quarters, then each quarter into thirds. Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge. Place the cookies, points tucked under, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

RON'S DATE RUGELACH

Steps:

• For the classic cream cheese dough: Combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Switch to low speed and gradually add in the flour. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl and beater to make sure it is well mixed. The dough will be sticky. Divide the dough into three portions, wrap each in plastic wrap and flatten to a disk. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.
• For the filling: Pulse the dates with the cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a food processor, adding a tablespoon of apple juice at a time. The filling needs to be spreadable but can have few chunks remaining. Mix in the walnuts.
• To assemble the rugelach: Dust the work surface with the flour and roll each dough portion to a 10-inch circle. Lightly brush each circle with the melted butter, then evenly spread a thin layer of the filling. Using a pizza wheel, divide each circle into four quarters. Divide each quarter into three thin triangles, for a total of 12 wedges. Roll each triangle from the curved side to the point and place on a parchment-lined or nonstick baking sheet. Refrigerate the sheets for 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Note: The rugelach can be frozen on the trays and then stored in a zip-top bag in the freezer for baking fresh later.
• Carefully brush each rugelach with the egg wash, trying to avoid drips. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until deep golden. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

WALNUT RUGELACH

Steps:

• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper.
• Beat 1/4 cup white sugar, butter, and cream cheese together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.
• Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until dough is just combined. Divide dough into 3 equal portions; shape each portion into a disk, wrap disks in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Beat egg white in a bowl with an electric mixture until frothy. Mix walnuts and 1/2 cup white sugar into egg white.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Remove dough from plastic wrap and roll each disk out into a 7-inch circle. Spread 1/3 the egg white mixture onto each dough circle, leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edge of each circle. Cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge from the edge to the point and place, point-side down, on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool and dust with confectioners' sugar.

DATE WALNUT RUGELACH

Steps:

• Make dough:
• In a food processor blend butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add flour and salt and pulse just until mixture forms a ball. Form dough into a log. Chill dough, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
• Make filling:
• Finely chop dates and walnuts and in a bowl with your hands toss together dates, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until combined well.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cut dough crosswise into 8 equal pieces and work with 1 piece at a time, keeping remaining pieces covered and chilled. On a work surface sprinkled with confectioners' sugar using a rolling pin dusted with confectioners' sugar, roll out piece of dough into an 8-inch round. Cut round into 8 wedges, keeping round intact.
• Sprinkle 1/3 cup filling in a ring around outer portion of round, leaving a 1-inch border around edge, and press filling gently into dough. Working with 1 wedge at a time, fold outer edge of pastry over filling and roll up filling in pastry, jelly-roll fashion, folding sides under pastry to enclose filling. Transfer rugelach, as formed, pointed ends down, to ungreased baking sheets. Make more rugelach in same manner.
• Bake rugelach in batches in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, 15 to 20 minutes total. Transfer rugelach to racks to cool completely. Rugelach keep in an airtight container at room temperature 3 days.

CHOCOLATE WALNUT RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a food processor, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine all the dough ingredients. Process or beat until it becomes dough-like. (In a food processor the mixture will form a ball, and stick together. With a mixer, it just turns into dough. Don't over beat.) Put aside.
• Now, in your food processor, combine all the filling ingredients and process until finely chopped. If you don't have a processor, you can do this in a blender -- just make sure you stop and scrape and sides down several times so that everything is evenly ground.
• Cut the dough into 4 pieces and dust each one with flour. Dust the counter or tabletop with flour, too. Roll a piece of dough into a circle, approximately 10 inches (25 cm) in diameter. Handle the dough gently, and don't be afraid to sprinkle it with more flour to prevent it from sticking to the counter or the rolling pin. Cover the entire surface of this circle with some of the filling in a thin, even layer. Using a pizza cutter (or a sharp knife) cut the circle into 8 wedges, pizza-style. Roll each wedge up -- starting at the wide, outside edge -- rolling firmly toward the point. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, bending slightly to form a crescent. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
• Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned on top, but not burnt on the bottom.

WALNUT AND BROWN-SUGAR RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a food processor, blend butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and salt until well combined. Add flour, and pulse just until a dough forms. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks, and wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw before baking).
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks set in upper and lower thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, combine egg with 1 teaspoon water to make an egg wash.
• Working with one disk at a time, place dough on lightly floured parchment paper, and roll out into an 11-inch circle (about 1/4 inch thick), dusting lightly with flour as needed. Using a large dinner plate as a guide, cut around dough to make a perfect circle; trim off and discard scraps. Brush circles with egg wash; dividing evenly, sprinkle with walnuts and brown sugar.
• Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut each circle into 16 equal triangles. Starting from the wide end, roll up each triangle of dough; place on lined baking sheets, seam side down. Brush rolls with egg wash.
• Bake until golden brown, 30 to 32 minutes. Transfer rugelach to a wire rack to cool completely.