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Home/ Sweet Cakes/Classic Rugelach

Classic Rugelach

Editor

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Delicious to eat and fun to make, rugelach (pronounced rug-a-lah) are miniature crescent-rolled pastries posing as cookies. They’re made by rolling a triangle of dough around a sweet filling of fruit, nuts, chocolate or pretty much anything your heart desires.

If you’ve never had them or made them from scratch, definitely roll up your sleeves and give this classic walnut-raisin version a try. They’re easier than they look and vastly better than store-bought. I’ll be honest: they do take some time to make as the dough needs to be refrigerated for a few hours and rolled out, but I promise you it’s worth it. Fresh out of the oven, they’re buttery, crisp and flaky, with a sweet cinnamon scent that will tempt you to eat the entire batch.

Ingredients:

For the Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with back edge of knife, plus more for rolling dough
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
8 oz (1 package) cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 egg yolk

For the Filling

1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse a few times to combine.
Add the chunks of butter and cream cheese, as well as the egg yolk. Pulse until the dough is moistened and crumbly with curd-like pieces about the size of peas. Dump the dough out onto a work surface. Knead just until it comes together and shape into a square or rectangle. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and flatten into 1-inch thick discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
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