Chalve Rugalach
Servings: 48 Rugalach
This recipe combines an old favorite with a new flavor.
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Ingredients
Dough
- 1 8-oz package cream cheese, cold and cubed
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 2½ cups flour, plus additional for rolling out the dough
- ½ tsp salt
Filling
- ¾ cup tahini sauce, well mixed
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 generous pinch kosher salt
Egg Wash and Topping
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp water
- dry roasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Combine cream cheese, butter, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse together until dough is formed and the fat is spread evenly within the flour. Dough might be a bit crumbly.
- Shape the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
- When ready to bake, remove dough from the refrigerator and cut it into 4 pieces. If dough was refrigerated overnight, let it warm up slightly so it’ll easier to work with.
Make the Filling
- In a separate small bowl combine all the filling ingredients to make the Chalvah spread. Set aside.
Make the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a circle that's about 1/8-inch thick. If the dough is too hard to work with, wait few more minutes. It will loosen up as it comes to room temperature.
- Spread 1/4 of the Chalvah mixture onto the rolled dough.
- Cut the dough into 12 wedges.
- Roll each wedge up, starting from the thickest end, until you form a crescent shape.
- Repeat the rolling, topping and shaping process with the other three pieces of dough.
- Place the rugalach on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. (You can also freeze the rugalach at this point for later use.)
- Beat together egg and water, and brush the tops of the rugalach. Sprinkle with dry roasted sesame seeds.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer the rugalach to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Monitor the first batch as your oven might be different than mine.
- Store in airtight container.
Notes
Inspired by my need to play in the kitchen. I combined the traditional cream cheese dough with a make-do homemade chalvah spread.