Ragalach from New Jersey
Ragalach or rugalach? To make it more confusing, I have found ready made versions of this pastries in shops under the names ragelach and rugelach. Whatever the name, this pastries will always be a New Jersey thing to me.
When we moved to New Jersey, we were welcomed with a plate of this melt-in-the-mouth pastries by our Italian neighbor. We found them incredibly good. Of course, I asked for the recipe and I pass it exactly the same way she gave it to me, including the name.
Ragalach recipe
This recipe is a cream cheese version of the Jewish rugalach.
Ingredients
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Procedure
- Mix the butter, cream cheese and salt working on them until creamy. Mix in flour and blend into a soft dough. Form into 14 balls. Chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°C.
- Mix nuts, sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll each ball into a 6-inch circle on lightly floured cloth. Cut each circle into quarters.
- Drop a rounded teaspoon of the nut mix onto each quarter and pinch the edges of the dough to form it into crescents.
- Place the crescents into an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, until they turn light brown.
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Servings: 4
Nutrition factsServing size: 1 serving
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Cooking Tips
Chill the dough for a minimum 2 hours and 24 hours maximum.
Experiment with other fillings. Raisins give the finished pastry a very sweet taste. Hazelnuts, pecans or other nuts can be used, as poppy seeds, other dried fruits or fruit preserves.
The dough freezes well. Mix in the filling, form into a roll, wrap in cling film and freeze. When you need fresh ragalach, cut thick slices and bake - other option is to freeze the formed, filled crescents.
For those using metric system, 1 tablespoon ground to powder cinnamon is about 7-7 grams.
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