Continuing with my passion for Jewish food – pastries in particular – here you’ll find my attempt on Rugelach. This was my first recipe in a bag and aside from the unnecessary waste I am quite fond of this solution; you don’t make a mess, the dough rises well and it is really easy to make. I would’ve liked my Rugelach to come out a little bit more chocolaty (is that a word?) so next time I’ll probably add a few chocolate sprinkles on the flattened dough before rolling it up.

Ingredients
For the dough
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter (or canola oil)
1/3 cup warm milk (or water)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup flour

For the filling
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, softened

In a bag (best reselable e.g. Ziploc), add egg, melted butter, milk, vanilla, yeast, sugar, salt and flour. Squish and knead the bag for 5-10 minutes until the dough is evenly mixed. Kids are especially good at this step – and there will be no mess thanks to the bag.

Place the bag in a bowl of very warm water for 45 minutes or until dough doubles in size. If you cover the bowl with a kitchen towel it won’t get cold that fast, butyYou can add more warm water if you feel like it’s getting too chilly. Turn the bag around halfway through the time.

Time to make the filling. Mix the honey, cocoa powder and softened / melted butter in a bowl. Put the spread in the refrigerator so it gets a bit thicker before you spread it on the dough. Preheat oven to 350F/ 175C.

Separate the dough into 3 even balls. Sprinkle with a little bit of flour. Roll out each ball, flipping and stretching until the dough is super thin. Place a round plate on the dough and cut around it so you have a circle. I used a pizza cutter here, which makes thing easier later.

Spread a layer of filling on the dough. Cut into 8 slices, like a pizza. Separate each slice and roll tightly from the broad side to the tip. (You need to separate the slices so they don’t get covered in chocolate on the outside from the other slices.) Place each rugelach on a baking tray covered with a sheet. Bake for 15-20 Minutes.

You might also give them an egg wash before baking or cover it with a bit of chocolate or glazing. As I mentioned I felt that mine weren’t chocolaty enough, so I trickled some white chocolate on them later on and it was delicious.
As always, this is YOUR stage – you can be as creative as you choose, so why not going for a different filling? You can do everything what you imagine, from hearty to sweet, because the dough itself isn’t too sugary.

Happy baking! :)

XOXO

Sarah