Crescent-Shaped Rugelach with Raisin-Walnut Filling
By America's Test KitchenPublished on November 29, 2012
Time
2 hours, plus 30 minutes freezing and 20 minutes cooling
Yield
Makes 32 cookies
Ingredients
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Dough
2 ¼ cups (11¼ ounces/319 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon table salt ½ pound (227 grams) unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled and cut into ¼-inch pieces8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, cut into ½-inch chunks and chilled2 tablespoons sour creamFruit Filling
⅔ cup apricot preserves 1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) granulated sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 cup golden raisins 2 cups walnuts, chopped fineGlaze
2 large egg yolks 2 tablespoons milkBefore You Begin
Be sure to stop processing the dough when the mixture resembles moist crumbs. If the dough gathers into a cohesive mass around the blade of the food processor, you've overprocessed it. If at any point during the cutting and rolling of the crescents the sheet of dough softens and becomes hard to roll, slide it onto a baking sheet and freeze it until it is firm enough to handle. Feel free to substitute chopped pitted prunes, chopped dried apricots, or dried cranberries for the raisins in the filling.
Instructions
- Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 pulses. Add butter, cream cheese, and sour cream; pulse until dough comes together in small, uneven pebbles the size of cottage cheese curds, 16 to 20 pulses. Transfer dough to counter, press into 9 by 6-inch log, and divide log into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into 4½ -inch disk. Place each disk between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll into 9-inch circle. Stack dough circles, between parchment, on plate; freeze for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, process apricot preserves in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 dough circle at a time, remove dough from freezer, gently peel parchment from dough to loosen, but leave in place. Spread dough with 2½ tablespoons preserves. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar, ¼ cup raisins, and ½ cup walnuts over preserves and pat down gently with your fingers. Cut circle into 8 wedges. Roll each wedge into crescent shape; space crescents 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Freeze crescents on sheets for 15 minutes.
- FOR THE GLAZE: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower- middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk egg yolks and milk in bowl. Brush crescents with glaze. Bake until rugelach are pale golden and slightly puffy, 21 to 23 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Sprinkle each cookie with scant teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Transfer rugelach to wire rack with metal spatula. Let rugelach cool completely before serving. (Rugelach can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days.)TO MAKE AHEAD: In step 2, space formed crescents ½ inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap and freeze cookies until firm, about 1¼ hours. Once frozen, transfer cookies to airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. To bake frozen rugelach, place on parchment-lined baking sheets and glaze and bake immediately, increasing baking tie by 6 to 7 minutes.
for the dough
for the filling
Time
2 hours, plus 30 minutes freezing and 20 minutes coolingYield
Makes 32 cookiesIngredients
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Dough
Fruit Filling
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Dough
Fruit Filling
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream Dough
Fruit Filling
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Part cookie, part pastry, rugelach are a traditional Jewish party snack. Their tight curls can contain a variety of bounteous sweet fillings, from nuts and jam to dried fruit and even chocolate. The dough is made with tangy cream cheese and bakes up tender and flaky; however, many rugelach doughs are sticky and hard to work with, so solving this problem was our first order of business. We started by adding more flour to the dough than traditional recipes call for, which helped make it more workable. A couple of tablespoons of sour cream in addition to the cream cheese gave the cookies more tang and tenderized them further. For the filling, we settled on a generous combination of apricot preserves, raisins, and walnuts. To abate leaking, we finely chopped the nuts; smaller pieces were less likely to tear the dough. We also processed the preserves in a food processor to eliminate any large chunks.
Before You Begin
Be sure to stop processing the dough when the mixture resembles moist crumbs. If the dough gathers into a cohesive mass around the blade of the food processor, you've overprocessed it. If at any point during the cutting and rolling of the crescents the sheet of dough softens and becomes hard to roll, slide it onto a baking sheet and freeze it until it is firm enough to handle. Feel free to substitute chopped pitted prunes, chopped dried apricots, or dried cranberries for the raisins in the filling.
Instructions
- Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 pulses. Add butter, cream cheese, and sour cream; pulse until dough comes together in small, uneven pebbles the size of cottage cheese curds, 16 to 20 pulses. Transfer dough to counter, press into 9 by 6-inch log, and divide log into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into 4½ -inch disk. Place each disk between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and roll into 9-inch circle. Stack dough circles, between parchment, on plate; freeze for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, process apricot preserves in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 dough circle at a time, remove dough from freezer, gently peel parchment from dough to loosen, but leave in place. Spread dough with 2½ tablespoons preserves. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar, ¼ cup raisins, and ½ cup walnuts over preserves and pat down gently with your fingers. Cut circle into 8 wedges. Roll each wedge into crescent shape; space crescents 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Freeze crescents on sheets for 15 minutes.
- FOR THE GLAZE: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower- middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk egg yolks and milk in bowl. Brush crescents with glaze. Bake until rugelach are pale golden and slightly puffy, 21 to 23 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Sprinkle each cookie with scant teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Transfer rugelach to wire rack with metal spatula. Let rugelach cool completely before serving. (Rugelach can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days.)TO MAKE AHEAD: In step 2, space formed crescents ½ inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover baking sheet loosely with plastic wrap and freeze cookies until firm, about 1¼ hours. Once frozen, transfer cookies to airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. To bake frozen rugelach, place on parchment-lined baking sheets and glaze and bake immediately, increasing baking tie by 6 to 7 minutes.
for the dough
for the filling
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