When I was in Montreal at Hof Kelsten, a stellar Jewish bakery-deli, I tasted the best rugelach ever. The cream cheese dough was shaped into small rectangular pockets, overflowing with strawberry jam and nuts. Although the chef would not share the recipe, he did tell me the ingredients, and I realized his pastry is very similar to my own, a simple American cream cheese butter dough so good that one reviewer in Montreal mistook Hof Kelsten’s version for a French mille-feuille pastry!
Many years before that, when watching a knish maker on the Lower East Side, I was struck by the way she cut her dough, using the side of her hand. I’ve done the same with my rugelach since then, to have a connection to the past.
Besides the dough, it is the high-quality jam and not too finely chopped toasted nuts — plus the old-fashioned cutting technique, which creates pockets in warm, jam-filled cookies — that make the recipe. I also heat the oven to 400 degrees and then, as soon as I put the rugelach in, turn it down to 350 degrees, to help set the crust. Recently, I made these rugelach for a group of women at a break-the-fast on Martha’s Vineyard, and every single one was devoured or taken home. Here it is, with all the recipe’s deliciousness.
From My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories © 2024 by Joan Nathan. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Notes:
- Use this vanilla sugar whenever you want to make a pastry with vanilla, even if the recipe doesn’t call for it, or if you wish to sprinkle it on your rugelach. It needs to infuse for at least a day before use.
- The rugelach dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
- The assembled rugelach need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before baking.
Raspberry-Walnut Rugelach
Flaky dough, high-quality jam, not-too-finely chopped toasted nuts and an old-fashioned cutting technique elevate these warm, jam-filled cookies.
- Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 32 1x
Ingredients
For the rugelach:
- 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup (2 sticks/227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 cups (250 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup (315 g) thick, good-quality raspberry or strawberry preserves
- ¾ cup (75 g) walnuts, toasted and finely chopped (but leave some slightly larger chunks)
- 2 Tbsp vanilla sugar, for sprinkling
For the vanilla sugar:
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 vanilla bean pod
Instructions
- To make vanilla sugar: Put about 4 cups of sugar in a bowl or a glass jar with a lid. Take a vanilla-bean pod and carefully cut down the length, flicking out the beans from the center of the vanilla. Submerge the pods in the sugar, close the jar, and let it infuse for at least a day.
- Put the cream cheese, butter, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream until blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the flour and salt and mix until a very soft dough is formed, about 1 more minute. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic or food- grade silicone, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough into four balls, then pat each into a rough square. Roll one piece into a rectangle about ⅛-inch thick (roughly 9 by 12 inches). Spoon a fourth of the jam onto the rectangle, then spread it almost to the edge, leaving about a ½-inch border all around. Sprinkle on a fourth of the nuts.
- Roll the dough up along the long side, like a jelly roll, tucking in the ends and positioning it seam side down. Using the side of your hand like a knife, cut the roll into eight pieces (this causes the dough to crimp partially shut, whereas an actual knife would create a more spiraled appearance). Place the slices on the prepared baking sheets, repeating with the remaining dough and filling. You should have 16 cookies per baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with two oven racks in the middle. Remove the rugelach from the refrigerator, and use your fingers to crimp the edges shut. (Any jam that oozes out will caramelize beautifully, so don’t worry too much about that.) Sprinkle the cookies generously with the vanilla sugar. Put the sheets into the oven, and immediately decrease the temperature to 350°F. Bake for 15 minutes, then swap the baking sheets, rotate them back to front, and bake for about 15 minutes more, or until the rugelach are golden on top. Transfer them to racks to cool.
Notes
- Use this vanilla sugar whenever you want to make a pastry with vanilla, even if the recipe doesn’t call for it, or if you wish to sprinkle it on your rugelach. It needs to infuse for at least a day before use.
- The rugelach dough needs to chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
- The assembled rugelach need to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before baking.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes + 3 hours chill
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Ashkenazi
Oh my gosh. I have a single memory of a great aunt cutting knishes like this from 50 years ago. I can’t wait to try this recipe instead of the normal triangle roll-up!!
I heard your interview on PBS and was thrilled to see one of your recipes, especially a rugelach recipe.