Rugelach Suggestions?

[Aloo0628]

I'm planning to try my hand a making rugelach for the first time, and was wondering if any of you out there had any filling suggestions for me?

I'm planning to make one batch w/ mini semisweet chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar, and another batch w/ mini dark chocolate chips/chunks and raspberry jam.

I'm not a big fan of nuts, so would rather stay away from those.

Combos involving chocolate would be nice, but I'm willing to try non-chocolate stuff too.

[hoagy294]

Try this thread:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/347827

[Aloo0628]

great, thanks! :-)

[Candy]

Tomorrow I am making 4 different ones. They will all have cinnamon sugar, raisins, chopped pecans. One will be spread with fig presrves, one with dark cherry, one with lignon berries and one with blackberry.

[flipss]

cream cheese filling.

[Aloo0628]

really? as in, just sweetened cream cheese? that's not overkill w/ the cream cheese dough? b/c if you vouch for it, i'll totally try it...i love cream cheese fillings in desserts!

[flipss]

try it, i totally vouch for it. we used to make it all the time at a fancy five star hotel i worked for.
here's a small recipe:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 T. ap flour
1 egg
1 T. orange or lemon zest (optional)

happy holidays!

[HillJ]

I made several Rugelach batches with cheese; including goat cheese for the folks who like savory.

What I discovered was just how flexible the recipe really is! Def. experiment.

[flipss]

love the chevre cheese suggestion. sounds delectable!

[HillJ]

flipss, another...a CH recommended Nutella on an earlier thread and I bought a smaller jar of it. My dh ate so many I made another batch for family.

[flipss]

alas! now i know what to do with the 2/3 jar full of nutella in our pantry. another... plain frangipane or flavored or half pastry cream and half frangipan.... like you said, the possibilities are endless. just experiment.

[EllenMM]

I've had great success with the recipe from Joan Nathan's "Jewish Holiday Cooking". The dough is easy to handle - made in a food processor. I've varied the fillings and have even managed to create a well recieved low-sugar edition for my diabetic mother-in-law.

[laylag]

I make a ton of sweet variations including the nutella I posted on the other board. At the risk of giving away all my rugelach secrets, here are a few of my other versions. On all, I still sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture on rolled out, dough (put other fillings on first) before rolling except for the lemon. For those I sprinkle some white sugar. Also, I generally use chocolate chips (white, dark, semi or milk) but am thinking about shaving chocolate in the future. More work though.

Heath Bar Rugelach: Nutella with heath bar toffee bits

Lemon Tart rugelach: Lemon curd with white chocolate and toasted almonds

Blueberry Blast Rugelach: Blueberry preserves w dried blueberries,white choc. and toasted almonds

Russian Coffee Cake Rugelach: Chopped candied cherries with milk chocolate and walnuts

Peppermint Bark rugelach: Crushed candy canes with white chocolate and dark chocolate

Turtle Rugelach: Caramel sauce, milk chocolate chips and cashews. You can of course use dark chocolate and pecans for these as well.

Thanksgiving Rugelach: Pumpkin butter, dried cranberries and pecans (with or without white choc. chips)

I've been thinking about a cream cheese filling and some savory versions too so thanks all you Chowhound chefs for your great ideas.

[alybrown]

Caramel Apple Brazil Nut Rugelach. This is "Easter Rugelach". Before I forget:

Just baked it and my husband says it's the best ever. To make 12, using the standard dough recipe, roll out one disk of vanilla dough. (12 pieces)

Instead of jam, put only 2 Tbs. brown sugar on the disk. Fill with a mixture of 3 Tbs. dried apple bits (soaked in fruit juice and drained), 4 Tbs. chopped Kraft caramel bits and 4 Tbs. chopped brazil nuts, mixed in with 1.5 Tbs. white sugar and 3. Tbs. brown sugar.

Slice and roll into snails. ROLL AS TIGHTLY AS YOU CAN.

Dip the snails in a mixture of 4 Tbs. chopped brazil nuts, 2 Tbs.white sugar and just a pinch of cinnamon. GIVE THE STUFF A LITTLE MEAT BALL SQUEEZE SO IT ALL STICKS TOGETHER. KEEP THE HORN SIDE DOWN so they want to unroll. Refrigerate at least an hour.

Preheat the oven at 375 and bake on parchment paper for 20 minutes. The caramel, nuts and apples spill all over the baking sheet, but what stays inside the cookie is delicious. I had to reduce the heat to 350 during the last few minutes because it was bubbling too much. I am a novice cook, so consult anyone who knows better about these things on the exact proportions and temperatures.

Rescue cookies from the cookie sheet and cool. Bon Appetit! My best ever.

[kabrown]

for christmas... my mother and I tried a new recipe that was delicious... overnight, we marinated figs in brandy... added a bit a sugar in the morning, and then placed them with some pecans in the food processor... was a great filling!

[Allstonian]

Can't help much with the filling suggestions, because I loveloveLOVE nuts so all my fillings have them. As well as that raspberry gam w/mini chips, you might also try apricot jam.

However, I can offer a couple of hints for forming the cookies that I picked up from the King Arthur Cookie Book: first, take a bottle lid about an inch in diameter (a 35mm film cannister lid is good, if you happen to have one of those handy, or something like the lid from a vinegar bottle.) Set the lid in the center of your round of dough before putting the filling down around it. It will keep the center free of filling, which will make it easier to manage getting that pointy end of the dough tacked down to the rest of the cookie.

The second hint is that a rolling pizza cutter is a great tool for cutting the circle into wedges.

[HillJ]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

I'm already knee-deep in dough and filling ideas. The link above is proving to be a very reliable recipe! Enjoy!