TWD just under the wire - Rugelach!

I was a little sad that I didn't get to make last week's recipe, Rugelach, so I made time to do it this week. Granted, it's 11:15PM on Tuesday night and I just took the last batch out of the oven, but I made it!

I had to smile when I saw how many TWD bakers struggled to pronounce this tasty treat. I guess I take it for granted that rugelach (as well as kreplach, gefillte, gribnes, challah, and teglach) are a part of my vocabulary. Rugelach also have a special place in my heart for two reasons. First, my beloved Bubbie Ruth made amazing rugelach, and second, there is a small bakery in the shuk (market) in Jerusalem that makes to-die-for chocolate rugelach. No, I'm not exaggerating. These rugelach are A-MAZ-ING. People line up around the street for them. And now I'm drooling...

My mom typed up my Bubbie's recipes for me, so I consulted her rugelach before I checked the official Dorie recipe. Surprisingly, they were similar in terms of filling and dough - with a few alterations. Bubbie used sour cream and butter, Dorie uses cream cheese and butter. I decided to hedge my bets and go with Dorie's dough and Bubbie's filling: apricot jam with walnuts coated in cinnamon sugar. Then I remembered how much I loved those chocolate rugelach, so I filled the other batch with raspberry jam, chocolate shavings and walnuts.

Overall, the dough was great! Super easy to make and pretty easy to work with. I rolled my first batch way too thin and a few of the pieces fell apart when I tried to roll them. After tasting a few of the baked rugelach (for research purposes, of course!), I wish I had used more filling. It's a delicate balance because you don't want to overload the small crescent, causing it to tear and spill; but you don't want to have too little sweetness with the tangy dough.

I will definitely make these again, with both fillings, but I'll use a heavier hand.