A Hanukkah Treat!
As I enter my third trimester of pregnancy, my sweet tooth has only grown! So to satisfy it, I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen baking.
My latest sweet treat, Apricot Rugelach, is not one I grew up enjoying, rather it was inspired by watching the Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship (something else I cannot get enough of).
Rugelachs are a popular Hanukkah pastry which are more traditionally crescent shaped, but I decided to make rolls. You can fill them with you favorite preserve or jam (not jelly) or even a simple butter | cinnamon | raisin mixture. Enjoy!
Time | Yield
Preparation: 45 min
Cook: 22 - 25 mins
Additional Time (chilling dough): 2 hrs+
Yield: 2 dozen+ (based on size)
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
8 ounce cream cheese (I used dairy-free)
⅓ cup sour cream (I used dairy-free)
½ cup white sugar
Filling
Ground cinnamon
Almond slivers
12 oz apricot preserves
Instructions
Step 1 - Cut cold butter and cream cheese into bits. In food processor pulse flour, salt, butter, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly.
Step 2 - Shape crumbly mixture into four equal disks. Wrap each disk and chill 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
Step 3 - Roll each disk into a 9 inch round, keeping other disks chilled until ready to roll them. Cut dough into 1 inch strips, sprinkle with cinnamon, apply preserve and top with almond slices before rolling. If you want to go the more traditional crescent shape, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, you will end up with point on outside of cookie.
Step 4 - Place rolls on a baking sheets (I covered my sheets with non-stick cookie liners) and chill 20 minutes before baking.
Step 5 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 6 - After rugelach are chilled, bake them in the center rack of your oven 22 - 25 minutes until lightly golden.
Step 7 - When ready to come out of the oven, cool on wire racks, then store in airtight containers.
Storage
Store leftover Rugelach in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. Freeze for longer storage. If you freeze, bring to room temperature or even briefly warm before enjoying.
Quick Takeaways
Before you roll out the dough, make sure it is well chilled. For 2 hours up to 2 days.
I used Kite Hill dairy free cream cheese and sour cream and the flavor or texture was not impacted
Explore lots of different fillings to meet your flavor palette.
You can shape into rolls like I did or the more traditional crescent shape.
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