Published September 1, 1997.
Tender, flaky pastry dough that holds its shape--and holds in the filling--is the key to these traditional but easy-to-make cookie-pastries.
The dough can be sticky, soft, and hard to work with, and often the filling is either overwhelming or almost negligible.
Rugelach should be made out of a meltingly tender, delicate dough with a slightly acidic tang. The dough should bake to a stable (but not rigid) conclusion. And, finally, the filling should be a bounteous combination of preserves, fruit, and nuts, plus a spice-spiked sugar.
Freeze circles of rolled-out dough before applying the filling, which consists of preserves, nuts, and raisins. Process the preserves briefly in the food processor to break up larger pieces of fruit, which tend to spill out during baking. Chop the nuts very fine and add them to the filling last, so they block seepage. Bake on heavy rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper, and remove the cookies from the pans as soon as they are done to prevent overbaking.
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