Friday, January 1, 2010

January Challenge: Rugelach

Posted by - Michelle

When I was a girl, my grandmother made rugelach. In honor of her and this remarkable new year, I submit this recipe for January. I'm also posting a bonus recipe from a friend for a Christmas Butter Crunch. Happy Baking!

image via Real Simple


Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 15-ounce package refrigerated piecrusts (such as Pillsbury). If you are ambitious, make a pie crust from scratch.
  • 1/3 cup apricot jam (or jam of your choice)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 400° F.
  2. Sprinkle the work surface with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Unfold 1 of the crusts and place it on the sugar. Roll it to an even thickness. Spread half the jam evenly and thinly over the crust. Roll the dough tightly and sprinkle with about 1/2 tablespoon of the sugar. Using a knife, trim the uneven ends (about 1 inch on each side).
  3. Cut the roll into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Place them, sugared-side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them 2 inches apart. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
  4. Bake until golden, 22 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

__________________________________________

Christmas Butter Crunch

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbl water
2 Tbl light Karo syrup
1 bag chopped almonds, enough to cover a 13 X 9" pan
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate bits

Melt butter in pan. Stir in sugar, water and Karo syrup. Cook and stir over moderate heat until 300 degrees or light brown. Brown almonds in oven. Stir into mixture quickly. Quickly pour mixture into greased pan. It will contract as it hardens.

Top/Bottoming
melt 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate bits over double boiler. Spread melted chocolate over top of harden mixture and sprinkle 1/2 of browned almonds on top. When this has cooled, repeat on other side.

Break into pieces and enjoy.

21 comments:

Rena said...

Yay! I love rugelach! I'm very scared at how easy they sound to make. I'm going to look around the internet and see what other recipes there are. If they are too easy, I'll make them ALL THE TIME!

Anonymous said...

Fun choice. I have never made rugelach and I can't think of the last time I even ate some. Looking forward to baking.

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

This one sounds exciting Michelle though honestly i dont know what is Rugelach and i so muc hope that i'll be able to pull this thru....

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

wowowow,this one is jewish and i so love jewish cuisine-great!!!!
So the butter crunch goes with the rugelach-am sorry there's no pic and i couldn get by exactly-about where and when the butter crunch & melted chocolate go?

TheDiva2 said...

Wonderful! Now I don't have to buy it from Costco. Thanks, Michelle. Off to the store. . .

Rolfe Bautista said...

sounds easy enough to make :) I love these things.

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

ok great,the pic tells me exactly what elicious cookie am in for and yeah now to look for a good crust recipe coz we dont get readymade crust here-have been reading around a bit now but have found very different ones so far....
they haver cookie kinda doughs not the crusty one-can i use a all butter pie crust recipe or can u please suggest one?
am sorry im asking to amny questions but i really knew nothing about this wonderfull cookie and am so glad to get to know and bake this one...
thanx a ton

Rena said...

I think the easiest way to figure it out is to google recipes for rugelach and see what kind of dough most use :)

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Thanx a ton Rena,yeah thanx to google i got some info -have beem up about it ever sice read the post but i like the idea of the pie crusts though none i read had pie crust dough and the shaped differently but i know am going to love this one with the jam fillin and yeah recently i tried an all butter pie ie pie 102 and i like it but dont know if it'll work with this one...thanx Rena....

Tori said...

Hooray! Another treat that I've long loved eating but never tried to make. Looking forward to this!

Khadija El Mary said...

What a gorgeous treat! Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Miichelle, I am thrilled with this choice. I love rugelach. I have had it with cheese, chocolate, jelly and nuts. I was thinking, recently, about making it.

It has been years since I have made these, so this is like a new challenge for me. This is a fantastic choice. Thanks.

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

I went back to look at the Butter Crunch and that is a real treat and fun to make, I think. Thanks for the bonus.

Colleen said...

Oooohh. This looks like a fun one! I think I will try this next weekend!

fimere said...

une bonne recette j'en prends note
bonne journée

Veronica said...

Can you believe I just had rugelach for the first time at a Christmas party this year? It was so good, so this seems like perfect timing!

Tina said...

My Grandma used to make this. THANK YOU for the reminder! I can't wait to try these recipes!

jp said...

I am scared...but I will try

Velva said...

I really adore rugelach but, eat them very rarely. I love these delightful treats served with a good hot cup coffee and life would be perfect.

Gina said...

That's a great choice! I can't participate again until February when we get into our new house that we bought..can't wait!

Velva said...

These look fabulous!!! I am glad you took the challenge. Rugelach is perfect with a good cup of hot coffee. Love it.