A few years ago Michael asked me to make Rugelach for an event at work.
There is a bakery in NYC that makes outstanding Rugelach, so I asked what the dough was made of and they told me it is like any dinner roll dough only that there are bread crumbs in the dough. Hmm, bread crumbs. So with a few missteps, I came up with a nice dough recipe, I do not know if its a traditional one but we like it, and I hope you all do too.
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups unbleached flour
2 sticks of butter diced, cold
1 cup of bread crumbs, UN-seasoned
8 oz of cream cheese, diced, cold
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Filling
1 cup dried apricots, diced
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup bread crumbs, un-seasoned
or try this filling
1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 brandy
1/2 raw sugar
1/2 chopped pistachios
1/2 bread crumbs, un-seasoned
Directions
In the food processor place flour, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, salt, butter, and cream cheese and pulse until crumbly, dump out onto a floured work services and knead into a ball. Divided in half, form into a disc, wrap in plastic, and place in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight.
Take the remaining bread crumbs, 1/4 of the sugar, and mix together, set aside. In another bowl take the remaining sugar and mix with the cinnamon and also set aside.
For filling place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse to combine.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Now on a floured work surface roll out the discs into a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Whisk egg in a bowl and brush a 1/2 inch border around the outer edge of the circles. Spread the apricots mixture out to within a 1/4 inch of the edge. Next, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on top of the apricots, this is what the bakery told me to do. Next, take a pizza cutter and cut the circle into 12 to 16 wedges. Starting at the wide end of each wedge roll the dough up to the point, bend the dough into a crescent, and place on a parchment covered cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Once all the wedges have been rolled, bent and placed on the cookie sheet, brush with the egg and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
The filling can be changed to most fruits, but the bakery said to watch out for high water content fruits, like berries. They said it was best to used dried fruits for the filling and use most any nut with it. You are really making a fruit pesto.
Enjoy Cooking
