Raspberry Chocolate Rugelach

 

 Raspberry Chocolate Rugelach

What Is Rugelach?

Rugelach cookies, oh how I adore them! I so thank my old Polish Jewish neighbor, Mrs. Cohen for introducing me to these amazing bite-sized treats and for teaching me how to make them from a rich cream cheese dough filled with raspberry or strawberry jam, chocolate, cinnamon, and walnuts.   

She would either make them in the shape of a croissant or a log, I prefer the log-shaped one, but my mother loved the croissant-shaped kind.  It didn’t matter the shape; we loved both kinds. 

 Ingredients

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

8 ounces cream cheese, straight from the fridge

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup very finely chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips

1/2 cup raspberry jam

egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with a splash of water

sanding sugar

Directions:

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or in a food processor. Add the cubed butter, distributing it all over the top of the dry ingredients, and dollop in the cream cheese (try for 1” dollops). Stir together on low speed until the mixture is mostly mealy and there are still some larger clumps of butter and cream cheese in tact. Add the yolks and vanilla; continue mixing until the dough comes together fully. Divide the dough in half, shape into discs, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to two days.

When you’re ready to form the rugelach, roll out the dough. Working with one dough disc at a time, roll out onto a lightly floured surface until it is a wide rectangle, around 18” by 9”. Use an offset spatula or knife to spread half of the jam onto the dough in a thin, even layer, leaving a 1” border along the long edge that’s furthest from you. Next, sprinkle the jam with half of the chocolate shavings. Brush the 1” 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 two days (depending on fridge space, you might want to cut the log in half so you’re dealing with four shorter logs as opposed to two really long ones). If you’re only refrigerating for an hour or two, no need to cover the logs. If longer than that, cover with plastic wrap. 

To bake, preheat the oven to 375ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush the logs with a thin layer of egg wash, sprinkle with pink sprinkles or sugar. Cut into 1 1/2” slices and transfer to the baking sheets, 1” apart. Bake until golden brown on top; begin checking for doneness at 24 minutes (don’t over-bake or they’ll get too hard!). (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.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.