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Blackcurrant Rugelach; it doesn’t get any better than this folks. My mom whips these up all the time; family dinners, church potlucks, parties, just for the heck of it. Making Rogaliki (Rugelach) was one of those things that seemed intimidating until I asked my mom how she does it. Happy News! They are really simple and quick to make! You don’t even have to wait for butter to soften; you melt it. Score!
I love these flaky, soft and perfect little Russian pastries. You can use any kind of preserves for the filling; Mom makes her own blackcurrant preserves and oh goodness if I could just let you lick the spoon (keep in mind I’ve probably licked it first).
There is a secret to making these; it’s the Canadian flour. Trust me. I tried twice with regular unbleached all-purpose and both attempts were sub-par. The Canadian flour makes them soft instead of cookie-like. I finally bit the bullet and bought 44 lbs of the stuff.
Everyone keeps saying it makes everything better! In this case, it proved to be true. I wonder if better for bread flour would have the same effect since they have a similar protein content?
Ingredients for Rugelach:
2 sticks unsalted butter (113g each), melted (not hot)
1 cup warm milk (1% or 2% milk will work)
4 cups CANADIAN all-purpose flour *measured correctly
3/4 Tbsp active dry yeast (Red Star Brand)
Sugar
Black current preserves OR your favorite preserves (raspberry, blackberry, etc).
Here’s the Canadian flour that we purchased at Cash & Carry. It’s wasn’t as pricey as I thought it would be.
How to Make the Best Russian Rugelasch/Rogaliki:
Preheat Oven to 360°F. (That’s right; 360°).
1. Melt your butter over low heat. Once it’s melted, transfer it to the bowl of your electric mixer. You want it to be warm, not hot.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment on medium speed, combine 2 sticks of melted butter & 1 cup warm milk (I heated the milk in the micro for 45 seconds).
4. Switch to the paddle attachment and add flour mixture to the milk/butter mixture about 1/2 cup at a time and mix until it is an even consistency and no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl, scraping down the bowl as necessary. It only takes 3-5 minutes to get the flour mixed well. The dough should be soft and won’t stick to your hands.
5. Divide the dough into five even portions and cover them loosely on the counter with some plastic wrap until you are ready to use them.
6. On a smooth non-stick surface, roll a portion of the dough out into about a 11-inch circle. No need to flour the surface if it’s a good, smooth cutting board.
7. Sprinkle the top of the dough with sugar (this is important not to miss since the dough doesn’t have any sugar in it. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint your sweet tooth. I put this step in bold because I’ve missed it before.
8. Cut 6 strips through the center to make 12 cute ‘lil triangles. Add about a marble size amount of your favorite preserves to the center of the wide part of the triangles. I recommend using preserves instead of jam; you don’t want the filling to be too juicy and leak out.
Mom says the fastest way to apply the preserves is to fill a teaspoon and push off about a pea size amount onto each triangle. I haven’t discovered an easier way, but if you know, please share! Anyways, start rolling your rugelach toward the center. Push down the edges slightly after the first roll so the jam is less likely to sneak out.
9. Place the rolled rogaliki onto the prepared baking sheet with the end part facing down. Space them about 1/2 – inches apart. My mom has a fantastic baking sheet that fits all of these rogaliki. I need one! But it is ok to bake in 2 batches.
10. Let them rise in a warm oven (100˚F for 30-45 minutes). Or let them rise in a warm room till they are about 50% larger (could take as long as 2 hours or more at room temp).
11. Bake at 360°F for 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a bowl while they are still hot and sprinkle each layer generously with powdered sugar.
Russian Rugelach, Rogaliki
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (not hot)
- 1 cup warm milk, 1% or 2% milk will work
- 4 cups CANADIAN all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tbsp active dry yeast
- Black current preserves
Instructions
Preheat Oven to 360°F
- Melt your butter over low heat. Once it's melted, transfer it to the bowl of your electric mixer. You want it to be warm, not hot.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment on medium speed, combine 2 sticks of melted butter & 1 cup warm milk.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the 4 cups flour and 3/4 tbsp yeast. Switch to the paddle attachment and add flour mixture to the milk/butter mixture about 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until it is an even consistency and no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl, scraping down the bowl as necessary. It only takes 3-5 minutes to get the flour mixed well. The dough should be soft and won't stick to your hands.
- Divide the dough into five even portions and cover them loosely on the counter with some plastic wrap until you are ready to use them.
- On a smooth non-stick surface, roll a portion of the dough out into about a 11-inch circle. No need to flour the surface if it's a good, smooth cutting board.
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with sugar and cut 6 strips through the center to make 12 triangles.
- Add about a marble size amount of your favorite preserves to the center of the wide part of the triangles. Anyways, start rolling your rugelach toward the center. Push down the edges slightly after the first roll so the jam is less likely to sneak out.
- Place the rolled rogaliki onto the prepared baking sheet with the end part facing down. Space them about 1/2 - inches apart.
- Let them rise in a warm oven (100 degrees for 30-45 minutes). Or let them rise in a warm room till they are about 50% larger (could take as long as 2 hours or more at room temp). Bake at 360° F for 20 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a bowl while they are still hot and sprinkle each layer generously with powdered sugar.
I use a empty white bottle that I bought in target Walmart or Marshall’s like for mustard or ketchup make the hole a little bigger and put my apricot jam in it and just squeeze out it works great
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Orysia!
I was wondering if you could freeze these?
I haven’t tried freezing these because they always get eaten within a couple of days, but I think it’s worth a try. I would put the powdered sugar on after they are thawed or it might get gummy after the freezer.
I’m back with another comment to say thank you for this recipe.
Just wanted to report that I tried rolling out the circles, separating them with parchment paper and then freezing.
It took about an hour to thaw the separated circles at room temp (I wasn’t in a rush, could have been less). I then rolled the circle out again a little, sliced as per recipe and, once filled and rolled, let them rise 20 min at 100°F, baked for 15 min (that’s all they needed!)
The result was AWESOME. I actually think even better! Which makes me overjoyed because I plan to bake a few hundred of these for an event and didn’t want the freshly baked texture to be compromised.
Oh, and I once again added some sugar to the hot butter rather than sprinkling after. And no dousing in powdered sugar here, I like them just sweet enough. And filled with chocolate chips this time… perfection!
THANKS, Natasha. God bless you and yours!
Thank you so much for those results & feedback, Mariya!! That’s so great!
am i able to make the dough the day before?
Hi Anna, because this dough is so simple and doesn’t require any rising time, we usually just make it and bake the rugelach. I don’t see any problems with refrigerating the dough covered, just let it come back to room temperature and puff up before using the next day.
I have made these twice and both times they turned out differently. My oven does not drop lower than 170* I read your comment where you said you stick a wooden spoon in the door and turn off the oven after it preheats. Now when you turn off the oven, do you still leave the wooden spoon in the door until they are double in size and then take the Rogaliki out and preheat oven to 360*?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Mary, yes I still leave the spoon in the door since the heating elements can still be giving off significant amounts of heat even after they are turned off. As the oven cools down some, you can remove the spoon. Once they have risen, I take them out of the oven and then preheat the oven fully for the baking.
Thank you so much! Will be baking them for Thanksgiving have a blessed Thanksgiving;)
I hope you love this recipe, Mary! Thank you for the great review!
hi natasha…my family background is from poland…so our ruggies are a bit different. my dough is made with butter and cream cheese…just a little note for those who might have missed the sugar on the dough…when i make mine i always use and egg wash on the top and sprinkle with sanding sugar just before baking instead.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Frances!
Hi, Natasha what happens if you accidentally skipped the step with the sugar.
Hi Victoria, I’ve done that before :-O and the cookies won’t be very sweet. They are still edible and good if you douse them in powdered sugar. I would roll in powdered sugar until they are fully coated to compensate for the more savory interior.
Hi Natasha, how long do these last?
Hi Anna. ours disappear within a few days at our house so I haven’t stored that any longer.
Hi Natasha! I made these a while ago and they were good. Next time I’ll use fresh jam instead of canned, I think it would taste better. My favorite part was rolling each one up 🙂 Thanks for the recipe <3
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it
Hi Natasha. Is there a way to make these dairy free? Thanks in advance 😊
This should still work well with water, Almond or Coconut milk is a wonderful substitute for Dairy milk as well.
Is it possible to use puff pastry in place of the dough portion of the recipe?
Hi Bob. I honestly have not tried that. But it may work, you you try that please let me know how you like it!
Hi Natasha. Thanks for this great recipe. I made these with frozen/ defrosted cranberries and they are amazing. You should give it a try!
Thanks for the tip Diana! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! & Thank you for the wonderful review!
For the first time, I am trying the Rogaliki and I don’t know if I should put egg wash on them, but it doesn’t look like you did.
Hi Angela, We did not cover them in egg wash 🙂
Hi Natasha
I will be using my Kitchenaid for the first time with this recipe. When you add the flour to the butter mixture do you change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment since the mixture will thicken quite a bit?
Hi Alicja, I can’t believe I missed that step! Yes definitely switch to the paddle attachment before adding the flour. Thank you so much for pointing that out. I have updated the recipe.
Great recipe, thank you. One note, if Rugelach are Russian then I am a Chinese Emperor.
Hi Anshel, they are called by a different name in Russian; rogaliki and made slightly differently but most people know them as “rugelach,” so yes, this is the Russian/Ukrainian version.
Anshel:
I am half-Romanian and half-Ukrainian living in Canada. Both sides of my family make these paistries and they have local names. To my knowledge, these paistries exist throughout Eastern Europe and Russia and each culture has their own twist on them. Sometimes it is the filling, sometimes it is about the dough ( my grandma insisted that “cornisori”, i. e. The Romanian version, must use lard in the dough. In reality, everyon’s got theiropinion!)
Please don’t be offended, many dishes are common to many cultures, especially in Europe where there was so much cross-cultural interaction.
Anshel:
I am half-Romanian and half-Ukrainian living in Canada. Both sides of my family make these paistries and they have local names. To my knowledge, these paistries exist throughout Eastern Europe and Russia and each culture has their own twist on them. Sometimes it is the filling, sometimes it is about the dough ( my grandma insisted that “cornisori”, i. e. The Romanian version, must use lard in the dough. In reality, everyone’s got their opinion!)
Please don’t be offended, many dishes are common to many cultures, especially in Europe where there was so much cross-cultural interaction.
Hi Natasha,
Incredible recipe that even I was able to bake a honest to goodness delicious rogaliki. I like how you can control the sweetness and how simple the ingredients. One question about sour cream, I see on many other recipes. What is the difference in taste? Thanks!
I’m so glad it was a success for you!! Thank you for the great review! We have always made these without sour cream and used milk instead so I’m not sure hot that would affect the overall consistency and flavor of the rugelach. We love the consistency and final product without the sour cream so have never thought to substitute. My Mom has made them this way ever since I can remember 🙂
Natasha so I made the dough as the derections say but my yeast didn’t mix into the dough. I’m dumbfounded don’t understand what I did wrong. U could literally see it in the dough tiny specks of yeast.
Huh, that is interesting and odd. What kind and what brand of yeast did you use? Was it fresh? How did the overall rugelach come out after it was baked? Did it rise properly?
I had the same issue – there are no directions for activating the yeast in the recipe. Mine are in the oven now. They still look like they will taste great, but still see specks of the yeast
hi. can i use any kind of flour?
Hi Alina, please see the second paragraph at the top for my notes on flour 🙂
Hi Natasha I’m planning on making those. And I was wondering will cherry filling work as well? The cherry filling that is being used for pies. I made those 2 days ago with shredded apples and honey. It tasted great especially the dough.
Hi Vicki, cherries are tough because you would probably only fit 1 cherry in each one before it was leaking out. You don’t want to overfill these because they are fairly small. I do have an excellent cherry recipe I could recommend to you and I think the cherry pie filing would work great for these (or fresh or frozen/thawed cherries).
Hi Natasha , I made these today and I’m just wondering are they supposed to be more soft like pastry or more like a dry cookie . Mine are more like a cookie , kinda hard
Hi Mira, they are somewhere in between; they aren’t cake soft and neither are they supposed to be hard. I wonder if maybe you used too much flour or baked them too long – they should be barely changing color when you pull them out of the oven. Also, what kind of flour did you use?