Rugelah for Last Day of Hanukkah

The first time I tasted rugelach was after my mother-in-law’s funeral; unfortunate conditions under which to meet these delightful cookies.

Pink bakery box after pink bakery box of rugelach arrived from Beverly Greenberg’s favorite Jewish bakery. Apricot, walnut, berry and even prune rugelach.

With their flaky crusts and interesting fillings, these complex little cookies seemed intimidating, even for someone who’s baked a few cookies in her day. 

My opportunity to learn how to make rugelach came a few years ago when friend Belinda Sanda casually mentioned her mother’s wonderful rugelach. I made Belinda promise that should her mother ever visit her in Redding, and should her mother ever bake rugelach during that visit, I’d be invited to watch.

That’s exactly what happened a few months ago. There was one tiny wrinkle: It turned out that Belinda’s mother, 79-year-old Phyllis Zerg of Thousand Oaks, was camera shy.

She allowed me to photograph her making rugelach, but she wouldn’t allow me to photograph her face. (I don’t know why, because she’s a handsome woman with a lovely face.)

But a deal’s a deal. I didn’t want to push it. After all, she was teaching me how to make rugelach.

So I spent an afternoon at Belinda’s house, where I watched Phyllis zip through the steps of making rugelach as if the process were simple: Make the dough. Chill it. Roll it out. Spread fillings on it. Cut it into pie shapes.

 Roll into cresent shapes.

Brush with an egg wash.

Bake.

Eat.

Swoon.

Phyllis, who’s the kind of natural baker who can look at a recipe and tell whether it will taste good, said she got the rugelach recipe from a woman named Charlotte, the mother of one of her son’s friends, who’d served rugelach at the boys’ scout meetings.

“I’m sure the kids didn’t appreciate them,” Phyllis said.

As she baked, Phyllis offered tips.

•”Everybody I know makes rugelach with cream cheese,” she said. “But I’ve been making this recipe for over 40 years and everybody loves it.”

•”The tip to good mundle bread is to only use unbleached flour,” she said, talking about another classic Jewish baked treat. “Otherwise it gets crumbly.”

•”The freezer’s my best friend,” she joked.

•”When it comes to rugelach fillings, use what you’ve got,” she said. “I like chocolate, but you can use raspberry jam or chopped apricot or whatever.”

•”Make sure when you roll up the rugelach, you bake them pointy side down,” she said.

•”Don’t forget the egg wash if you want them to have a golden coat,” and “Don’t forget the powdered sugar. that’s the secret touch.”

Phyllis baked and baked and baked all afternoon, one cookie sheet of rugelach after another.

The rugelach were as pretty as they were delicious. The last trays of rugelach came out of the oven just as a neighborhood child stopped by to sell something for a school fundraiser.

Belinda offered the child some rugelach. He ate it. He said he liked it. Maybe Charlotte’s little scouts from so long ago did, too.

Here’s Phyllis’ Rugelach recipe, just in time for the last day of Hanukkah. Enjoy. 

Phyllis’ Rugelach

Mix the yeast, water and sugar and set it aside to rise.

Put the flour, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together, as if making pie crust. (She uses a food processor, pulsing until the flour, salt and butter are mixed well.) Add the egg yolks and yeast mixture to the flour mixture and blend well.

Chill the dough. (If you’re in a hurry, put it in the freezer for a few minutes.)

In the meantime get your rugelach fillings ready. (She doesn’t measure the fillings. Phyllis puts on as much as she thinks looks right.)

Divide dough into four pieces.

Roll out each section into a circle on a lightly floured board, as if you’re making a pie crust.

Spread the rolled-out dough with the egg-white mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nuts. (Or chocolate chips, or jam, or chopped dried apricots, or whatever you want.)

Cut into pie-shaped wedges, first in half, then in quarters, then in thirds.

Roll up the pie shapes like a butter horn.  Brush each rugelach with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.