Ragalach or rugalach

Description

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. This recipe is a cream cheese version of the Jewish rugalach as prepared by a friend of Italian ascent.

Summary

Yield
Servings
SourceEast Coast cuisine
Prep time
45 minutes
Cooking time
Total time
45 minutes

Ingredients

1 c
butter (unsalted butter, softened)
1⁄2 lb
cream cheese (softened)
1⁄4 t
salt
2 c
flour (sifted)
1 c
walnuts (chopped kernels)
1⁄2 c
sugar
1 T
cinnamon

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  3. Mix nuts, sugar and cinnamon.
  4. Roll each ball into a 6-inch circle on lightly floured cloth. Cut each circle into quarters.
  5. Drop a rounded teaspoon of the nut mix onto each quarter and pinch the edges of the dough to form it into crescents.
  6. Place the crescents into an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, until they turn light brown.

Notes

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.

Ingredients, metric  
225 g    soft sweet butter  
225 g    soft cream cheese  
1/4 tsp    salt  
200 g    sifted flour  
125 g    chopped walnuts  
100 g    sugar  
8 g    cinnamon  

Nutrition facts

Serving size: 1/4 of recipe Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet. Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving      
Calories   263.03  
Calories From Fat (48%)   126.19  
    % Daily Value
Total Fat 14.90g   23%  
Saturated Fat 6.23g   31%  
Cholesterol 20.01mg   7%  
Sodium 91.46mg   4%  
Potassium 122.14mg   3%  
Carbohydrates 30.43g   10%  
Dietary Fiber 2.02g   8%  
Sugar 7.45g      
Sugar Alcohols 0.00g      
Net Carbohydrates 28.41g      
Protein 4.87g   10%