Aunt Belle's Rugelach: On Being Jewish for the Food

Rugelach

By most any measure, I'm not a particularly religious person. I understand and respect that these sorts of things have value for others (though I don't really get it when this value results in rioting and hurting people, but that's well beyond scope); it's just not for me at this point in my life. As one who was born Jewish and raised in an ostensibly* kosher home  with strong traditions around the holidays, though, I confess that I really do like the food.

In a previous post right around when she passed away, I mentioned Aunt Belle. To refresh briefly, she was: technically my great aunt, 95 years old when she died, and an industrious baker for family holiday celebrations for the entire time that I knew her. One of the few things I ever baked with Aunt Belle was rugelach, which were one of my favorite holiday treats and something I wanted to be sure I learned how to do myself. For the uninitiated out there, rugelach are (I presume) a traditional Eastern European Jewish dessert. They typically have a flaky, not very sweet dough of some sort that's filled with some combination of fruit (dried or jam), nuts, cinnamon, sugar and/or perhaps some chocolate.

So about 15 years ago, I asked Aunt Belle if she would show me how to make rugelach. I went over to her house one afternoon, and we made these together. I've made them several times since then, but figured they'd be particularly appropriate to bring to Rosh Hashanah dinner with my Chicago cousins. And also a good recipe to share with you, my dear readers.

Lots of butter...what could be
bad here? 

To be fair, this recipe is not unique to Aunt Belle. She had it copied out of a newspaper, I think. And it's really similar to others I've seen in cookbooks. But I think of it as her recipe, and so can you.

For a treat that's very rich and flaky, these are actually fairly simple to make and pretty forgiving. They are not heart- or otherwise healthy in any way shape or form, however, so be warned now. Except perhaps for mental health. I can assure you that eating several is very good for that.

Dough is ready!

To make the dough, simply mix 1/4 teaspoon of salt with 2 cups of flour in the food processor. Once combined, add 1/2 pound (2 sticks) of slightly softened butter, each cut into quarters; and 1/2 pound (1 brick) of slightly softened cream cheese. Process in pulses until it's all combined and forms several large chunks. Over-mixing is the only mistake I've ever made with these, and it resulted in a sticky dough that was impossible to work with.

Once the dough is made, divide it into 4 equally-sized chunks. Wrap each one in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour. (At this point when I made these with Aunt Belle, she offered me a can of Vernors and took me into the living room to, after much subtle inquiry about my social life, ask if I'd like her to set me up with any of her friends' granddaughters. I suggest that you find something similarly engaging to do while you wait for the dough to chill.)

While the dough is chilling, sort out how you're going to fill the rugelach. There's no sugar in the dough, so something sweet is essential. I usually use a mix of sugar (1/4 cup) and cinnamon (one teaspoon), plus some raspberry jam and chocolate chips. If I'm not baking for a nut-allergic crowd, I add some chopped walnuts (maybe 1/2 cup?).

My work surface and highly
imperfect dough rolling

You can also preheat the oven to 350 at this point and get a couple baking sheets ready. Silicone baking sheet liners work really well for these, but spraying with non-stick spray also works.

Once the dough is chilled, repeat these steps for each of the disks: Roll it out on a well-floured surface into a disk that's about 1/8" thick and 10 - 11" across. Spread the filling on this disk. I usually spread a spoonful of jam first, then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar blend, then the walnuts, and finally a handful of chocolate chips.

Next, cut the disk into quarters. Cut each of these quarters in half again, and then again as if you were making spokes on a wheel or slicing a pizza. Don't worry if the slices are exactly even or not.

Starting from the outside, gently lift each wedge and roll it fairly tightly toward the center, capturing the filling as you roll (though chips and nuts may scatter a bit). Place the rolled up rugelach on the baking sheet.

Ready to be baked!

Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes, until they're puffy and very light brown on top (and golden on the bottom). Yum!

As I said, there are lots of variations on this. Some people glaze them with a bit of egg to make them extra brown. Others sprinkle sugar on top. There are also different types of dough. I think it'd be interesting to do a savory version as well (maybe some onion jam with dried cranberries and black pepper?).

Here are my photos of the rugelach I made yesterday. Now I'm off to share them with the cousins!




 * I say ostensibly kosher because, despite having separate dairy and meat dishes/silverware, pepperoni pizza was perfectly acceptable fare for most of my childhood, as long as it was consumed on a paper plate. The logic continues to befuddle.