All rugelach are good – what can be wrong with a rolled pastry? And you might think chocolate filing is the best, but that is before you try these Vanilla Rugelach.
Vanilla Rugelach
Servings
32 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 packages yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water around 100 degrees F
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 3/4 cup soy milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick margarine, melted
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 tablespoons vanilla sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
Instructions
- Dough:
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the yeast with the warm water and tablespoon of sugar and allow to proof for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the margarine and soy milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat until the margarine is just melted. Allow to cool.
- Add in 4 cups of flour, vanilla pudding, melted margarine and soymilk, the sugar, eggs, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together. If the dough is very sticky, add the last 1/2 cup of flour a little at a time until it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.
- Mix on low for 10 minutes to develop the dough, then shape the dough into a ball, cover with a little oil or cooking spray and place in a clean bowl to rise. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour.
- Filling and Assembling:
- Meanwhile, melt the margarine. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the vanilla sugar.
- After an hour, cut the dough in half.
- On a floured surface, roll out half the dough into a 14 inch circle. Drizzle on half the margarine (2 tablespoons) and half the sugars.
- Cut the dough like a pizza pie into 16 sections. Roll each piece starting from the wide end.
- Place each piece at least an inch apart on the parchment lined baking sheet, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Prepare the second half of the dough in the same way.
- Bake both trays at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- Sugar Syrup:
- While the rugelach are baking, mix the water with the sugar and vanilla sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil and boil until the sugars dissolve. Remove from the heat.
- As soon as the rugelach come out of the oven, brush immediately with the sugar syrup and allow to cool.
I used 2 tablespoons dry yeast. I thought that was enough, based on similar recipes, but the dough didn’t rise. Also, the filling mostly dripped out during baking. That’s one of the reasons I don’t like to make rugelach. Is there a trick to keeping the filling in?
Despite the above, everyone loved them and they were snatched up pretty quickly.
here’s what i did for chocolate rugelach, using this recipe:
first of all, divide the dough into 4, not 2. that’ll make for smaller, tighter rugelach.
for the chocolate filling, instead of:
4 tablespoons (½ stick) margarine, melted
12 ounces good bittersweet chocolate, melted (i used 70% scharffen bergen bars)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
combine the margarine and chocolate, combine the sugar and cocoa powder.
for each of the 4 dough balls, spread 1/4th of the margarine/chocolate mix and then sprinkle with 1/4th of the sugar/cocoa powder mix.
roll tightly.
The dough was sticky but the results were worth it. Personally, I think a 14″ circle makes the rugellach to big. Next time, I’m going to divide the dough into 4 and make them smaller.
After I divided the original dough into 2, I made 1/2 the filling per the recipe and for the half I substituted cocoa powder for the vanilla sugar and then added mini chocolate chips as well. The result wasn’t quite there – it needs more of a chocolate bite. I’ll keep experimenting.
Coconut oil should work, but keep in mind that this is a very simple flavored pastry and the coconut flavor may come out!
That should work, though I haven’t tried it myself.
Can you exchange the margarine with coconut oil?
can you exchange the margarine with oil?
Brushing with egg wash will make them look shiny and nice but it’s not necessary. You can make the dough the day before, just let in come to room temperature before working with it. Enjoy!
I’d really like to make this recipe…do the rugelach need to be brushed with egg wash before they’re baked? Also, can I make the dough a night before and leave it in the fridge overnight to rise to then work with the dough the day after?
I also have some trouble with chocolate. You can try using some liquid marble chocolate, found in the baking aisle. It’s like chocolate syrup but it’s pareve.
I don’t have a recipe like that, sorry!
Yes, you can freeze the dough, you can probably also shape and freeze raw, then just bring to room temp and allow to rise before baking.
hi i was wondering if you can plz help me out…
i made this recipe 2x and they are amazing!!! the best i have ever tried! however, i am looking to use this same dough to make pareve chocolate rugelach. The recipes i’ve tried from various places don’t work..the rugelach look messy and they open up. Do you have any chocolate filling recipes that would work? Or any tips? Thanks so much for your help! (i like when the chocolate filling is riche and gooey and when they come out looking professional)
is there a babka recipe without yeast that you can share?
Making these right now! I have one batch in the oven and the house smells yummmmmmm!
I wanna have some fresh tomorrow for a friend- can I freeze the dough till I’m ready to bake it so she can get it hot from the oven? If yes, how do I go about that? Thanks!
Since I’ve never actually turned this recipe into a banks myself i don’t have exact measurements, but you want a nice thick layer, it will give it lots of moisture. Spreading the schmear does take some practice, but you can add extra oil to make it a little easier to spread. Good luck!
this sounds gr8 WANT 2 MAKE 9 INCH ROUND BOBKA HOW MUCH OF SHMEAR RECEIPE SHOULD I USE ? TRIED A SHMEAR IN THE PAST HAD A HARD TIME SPREADING IT ANY TIPS ?
Esther! I’m so glad you liked these! Because babka would need to bake longer, I imagine that the sugar is just melting and baking out. I think it would help if you used some “schmear” in the filling. Generally schmear calls for chocolate or cinnamon but I would leave it out and just use vanilla sugar. Try mixing 1/4 cup margarine or butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 Tbs. vanilla sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbs. corn syrup. Mix that in a mixer or food processor and spread that on the dough-then twist. And please let me know how that works for you!
hi! your babka filling recipe was a big hit! my family loved it. can you please give me the recipe for the cinnamon shmear filling and the chocolate shmear filling for babka.It was really delicious! thanks
I’m so happy it worked out! Okay, here’s a cinnamon and chocolate version for you.
Cinnamon schmear:
1/4 margarine or oil
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbs. corn syrup
2 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon
Chocolate schmear:
1/2 cup margarine or oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
I Tbs. corn syrup
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips
To make schmear, add all ingredients in food processor and process with blade until a thick paste forms. Sould only take a few seconds. You can also use a stand mixer but you would need to chop the chocolate chips first.
i tried this recipe and it came out incredible however i tried to convert it into vanila babka and the filling in the babka was gooey and chunky. can you please advise me on how to convert these delicious ruglach into delicious vanilla babka. thanks!
I don’t buy yeast in packages- do you know how much yeast is in one package- in terms of TBS or Tsps or oz?
yummm… this is the perfect vanilla rugelech recipe!