Those of you who follow me over on Google+ may have heard of Shinae Robinson’s monthly cookalongs – a really cool virtual gathering of people preparing food that she began a while back to share recipes and preparation methods. If you haven’t joined in one yet, you definitely should!
December’s cookalong was chicken and dumplings, rounded out with rugelach, and happened last Sunday (yesterday as of this post). I’ve been a bit tied up with baking and catering, so couldn’t join in the fun during the day, but was getting hungry checking in on some of the pictures along the way, and the rugelach in particular was looking quite Christmas-ey and delicious (and let’s face it, what’s not to love about flakey, cream cheese-ey pastry!). When I had a chance to check out this recipe that everyone was working off, it looked like it would be fairly straightforward to convert to gluten-free … so thats what I spent this afternoon doing!
A couple of notes … I figured that treating this like pastry rather than a cookie would give the best results. Traditional rugelach are tender yet flaky, and my go-to recipe for gluten-free pastry already has a pretty good flavour profile. So, I made the dough in the food processor — cream cheese first, butter after to ensure some larger chunks remained. I also added sugar to the dough — it might seem like a lot, but it adds tenderness and moisture to the dough, and helps with browning. Finally, like pastry, I started the rugelach off in a slightly hotter oven, and decreased the temperature to 350 to finish baking.
adapted from Gourmet, May 2004 recipe
Ingredients
- 2/3 cups amaranth flour
- 2/3 cups cornstarch
- 2/3 cups tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 T xantham gum
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- approx 1/4 cup cold water or enough to moisten the dough
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup apricot preserves
- 1 cup raisins or currants
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
- milk or eggwash for brushing the rugelach
Instructions
- Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse to mix everything thoroughly.
- Cut the cream cheese into small cubes, and add to the bowl of the food processor. pulse to combine. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the food processor. Add a small amount of cold water to the mixture, just until it forms a ball.
- Gather the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 8 hours (or overnight).
- Cut the dough into 4 pieces -- you are going to make 4 rugelach.
- Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Shape each piece of the dough into a rough rectangle, and roll out just like you are rolling a pie crust - about the same thickness. You should have a 12-inch square. Roll between two pieces of plastic wrap to help you out.
- Spread a quarter of the preserves on the dough with an offset spatula, sprinkle with a handful of raisins and a handful of chopped nuts, and sprinkle with 1-2 Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar.
- Roll loosely like a jelly roll (use the plastic wrap!). Place the roll onto the baking sheet, seam side down. Brush each log with milk or egg wash, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Slash each log halfway down, crosswise about 1-inch apart. Place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up the roll.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 350 rand bake for 15-20 more minutes.
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