I’ve always enjoyed rugelach. After discovering that the primary ingredients in the dough are butter and cream cheese, it is obvious why these cookies are so good. I found several recipes that had the same premise for the dough and a variety of different fillings. Armed with different recipes and ingredients that were in my pantry, I created a version of rugelach with ingredients we’d brought with us to the bush. It came out delicious! The filling is a fruity complement to the soft and flaky crust.
Arctic Rugelach
Ingredients:
Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 1/2 cup fruit preserves (I used apricot, peach, and mango preserves)
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chopped dried Craisins
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
Coating (applied just prior to baking):
- whites from two eggs
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Beat in 1/4 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract. Combine the flour and salt; stir until well blended. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and press together to form a ball. Divide the ball into 4 portions. Shape each portion into a flat rectangle, so it is ready to roll after being chilled. Wrap each rectangle in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, toss together the brown sugar, 6 tablespoons white sugar, craisins and finely chopped pecans. Set aside.
- Take the 2 tablespoons white sugar and mix with the one teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. This will be used to sprinkle over the top of the cookies before baking.
- Roll out each portion of dough into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the fruit preserves over each rectangle, then sprinkle each one with some of the Craisins & nut mixture. Roll up the rectangle, jellyroll-style, so you have a long log shape. Brush log with egg whites and generously sprinkle with the sugar & cinnamon mixture. Using a knife, cut each log into 12 pieces and set on parchment-lined or greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 16 to 18 minutes at 350 degrees F in the preheated oven, until golden. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through to ensure even baking.
- Remove cookies from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.
- As tempting as they will be hot out of the oven, let the cookies cool before you enjoy them. They’re better cool.
Yields: 48 cookies
CutterLight 
Mouth-watering!
Can I substitute pecans with apples?
If so, how many apples do I need? 🙂
The beauty of rugelach is that you can substitute the filling with anything you desire. I saw a savory rugelach I want to try with smoked salmon. Substitute using roughly the same amounts…for example 1/2 cup of something for 1/2 cup of something else. You still want to be able to roll up the dough without your filling falling out of the sides.
YUM!
🙂