Tuesday, March 6, 2012

TWD #3 - Rugelach


I wasn't really sure what to make of this recipe in the beginning. Neither prunes nor apricots (the suggested fruit fillings for this recipe) sounded at all appealing, and I'm not sure I've ever tasted rugelach before. If I have tried it I don't remember it, so it's not going to be at all helpful.

My original thought was to try cherry and strawberry versions instead of the recommended prune and apricot, but somehow I ended up going the chocolate and cinnamon route(s). I halved the recipe for the first go-round and spread one piece of dough with Nutella (using almonds and hazelnuts) and the other with a butter-raw sugar-cinnamon mixture (using just almonds) that I got from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert (and spread on everything you can imagine--toast, pretzels, you name it).

My mother called just as I started putting the Nutella and cinnamon logs together and I was so distracted by all our talk of puppies that there aren't as many photos as I usually take. (We're in the final countdown to getting our puppy--8 days left!--so it's sort of overshadowing everything else.)

The dough was so easy and came together so quickly in my mixer (and I started it after midnight) that I forgot to take photos.

Rolling it out was a challenge, even after a little time on the counter.

I topped it with the filling, nuts, sugar, etc.

The cinnamon filling didn't hold up very well...

I rerolled these before putting them on the sheet so they were more round (than oval). I also found that there was a ton of sugar-cinnamon-nut mixture left over. No idea why.

Talk about a plate of yummy goodness.

You can find the original recipe on the blogs of this week's hosts: Margaret of The Urban Hiker and Jessica of My Baking Heart and the links to all the other bakers' posts here. In my versions, the butter in the cinnamon rugelach was an issue, but they were still really good. I liked the flavor of them even better than the Nutella.

Things I learned from this project:
  1. Just because something isn't pretty doesn't mean it isn't delicious.

14 comments:

  1. You're so right!! I found they were delicious too!!

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  2. actually, the filling that runs out and candies is quite delicious, don't you think?

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    1. Definitely! It was my favorite part, and after reading all the TWD posts I've been dreaming about it all day!

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  3. Puppies! I got distracted too. Congrats on the new puppy! How fun.
    Rugelach aren't the prettiest things but they sure are tasty. I'm glad you enjoyed them.

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  4. yay for new puppies :)

    i had a lot of leftover sugar coating too. and since i had rolled the egg washed cookies in it, i couldn't save it :(

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  5. I love your last line, I agree many things are delicious and they aren't all pretty. Glad you hung with it and liked the cookie!!

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  6. How exciting to have a new puppy in the house! I think your rugelach look great!

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  7. Exactly!! Your cinnamon filling sounds divine! :) Thanks so much for baking along this week, Tierney!

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  8. That does look like a great pile of goodness! Great post!

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  9. I think your last photo especially shows how delicious these cookies are. I really like that you tried different combinations. How exciting about getting a new puppy!

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  10. I too had a lot of leftover of almost everything aside from the dough, so I will be using it all to make a muffin of sorts! They look delicious!

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  11. I think your final photo looks excellent! Glad you liked these!

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  12. Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good :-)
    So exciting about the new puppy. Enjoy! (Maybe a picture will show up on the next TWD post?)

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  13. Your fillings sound great! New puppies are so much fun (and so much work)! Pictures please!

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