Raspberry Rugelach
a tart and nutty cookies (Bon Appétit recipe)I made these raspberry rugelach a few years ago and revisit this recipe by BA every so often. It’s one of my favorite cookie recipes! I love how they’re tart, sweet, and nutty. They have it all! The only thing though is that they take a bit of work to make. But once you have it all assembled, you just need to slice and bake! Hope you give these raspberry rugelach a try.
The original recipe has you combine the nuts with the jam. I found it very hard to spread the filling out with the nuts in the way. Instead, I first spread the jam and just sprinkle the nuts on top. I find it so much easier this way.
Ingredients
makes around 40 cookies
I used Bon Appétit’s recipe found here: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/raspberry-rugelach
Dough
5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Filling
2 cups raspberry jam
2 teaspoons salt
Zest from 2 oranges
3 cups walnuts, chopped
Topping
1 cup freeze-dried raspberries, grounded
1/2 cup sugar
Egg wash
Directions
Start by making the dough. Add 5 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 2 tsp salt to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low to combine. Then add 2 cups chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces. Beat on low until the butter is flattened into nickel and dime sized pieces. Now add 16 oz room temperature cream cheese, also cut into pieces. Continue beating until it clumps together.
Split the dough into fourths. Cover each dough with plastic wrap and chill for 30-45 minutes. I had 1642 g of dough in total which measured to 410 g for each fourth.
For the filling, add 2 cups raspberry jam to a bowl along with the zest of 2 oranges and 2 tsp salt. Give it a nice mix. Measure out 3 cups walnuts and finely chop the nuts. Place the nuts in a separate bowl.
Roll out your dough into an 18 x 11 inch rectangle. You want it around 1/8 inch thick. It’s helpful to place the dough between two parchment papers and rolling them out. Have the long side of the rectangle facing you.
Spread 1/4 of your jam mixture on top of your rolled out dough. You don’t need to add so much since it can leak out and burn. Leave a bit of the dough uncovered towards the top. Sprinkle 1/4 of your chopped walnuts on top. Then roll your dough into a spiral log starting from the bottom. Use the parchment paper to give you leverage and firmly seal the end.Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge. Repeat with the other three doughs.
Next day.Measure 1 cup freeze-dried raspberries and grind them using either a food processor or a mortar and pestle. Add 1/2 cup sugar to the ground raspberries and mix.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Take out a log and use a ruler to make marks every 2 inches followed by a 1/2 inch. You want to make alternating cuts on every knick so that you create trapezoid-like shapes. You can watch my youtube video for a better visual. Place your cut rugelach onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Then brush them with egg wash and sprinkle regular granulated sugar on top (the original recipe calls for the raspberry sugar but I found that it burns easily in the oven). Repeat with the second log.
Bake for 28-34 minutes until they turn golden brown. Straight from the oven, sprinkle a generous amount of the raspberry sugar on top. Let cool to room temperature and coat with more of the raspberry sugar.
Repeat the same steps with the third and fourth log. Enjoy!
Im also a sucker for chocolate rugelach. I definitely need to try making some of those in the future as well!
