It’s the last night of Hanukkah, so naturally I made rugelach cookies. I celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas so as a nod to the two holidays, I always make rugelach as well as candy cane-shaped sugar cookies and gingerbread men. It makes for the epitome of an interfaith cookie jar.
Nubby looking and imperfectly rolled? Yes. Slightly resembling pigs-in-a-blanket? Yeah, kind of. But oh-so-delicious? So. Much. Yes. The pastry dough is wonderfully rich thanks to lots of cream cheese and butter, and then wrapped around a gloriously sweet filling of brown sugar, walnuts, raisins and honey.
The colder the dough, the flakier the cookies, so I like to make the dough the night before and then refrigerate. But if you’re in a time crunch, an hour in the refrigerator will do. Also, you can try different variations instead of the honey base like jam or fruit preserves. Enjoy and happy holidays!
Rugelach Cookies adapted from Food52
INGREDIENTS
For The Pastry Dough:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
2 tbs granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
8 ounces cream cheese, cold
1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cubed
2 tbs cold water
For The Filling:
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ cup raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Zest of one lemon
Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and blend together briefly. Mix in the cubed butter and then add the cream cheese. Mix until it starts to clump together (the dough should stick together when pinched). If it is too dry, add the 2 tablespoons of water.
Gather the dough together into a ball on a surface, cut into four balls and flatten them into disks. Wrap individually in plastic saran wrap and chill overnight.
When ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350° F. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts. On a floured surface, roll out one disk of dough into a 10-inch circle. Cover the circle with about 1 tablespoon of the honey then sprinkle on a quarter of the nut mixture. Press the mixture lightly into the dough (using a rolling pin). Cut the circle into 12 wedges (like a rugelach pizza). Starting with the wide edge, roll up each edge.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool. Repeat using the remaining disks of dough to make 4 dozen cookies.
