Marzipan Rugelach
These Almond Rugelach are made with tender cream cheese pastry dough filled with a homemade almond paste. Perfect little cookies for the almond lovers in your life.
Servings: 48 cookies
Equipment
- Pizza Wheel
- Food Processor optional
Ingredients
For the rugelach dough:
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature, 227 g
- 8 oz unsalted butter room temperature, 227 g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 47 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cup all-purpose flour 270 g
For the almond filling:
- 2 cup almond meal or almond flour, 260 g
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar 125 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 egg whites
Egg wash and topping:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon milk or water
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Sliced almond
- Additional powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- To make the rugelach dough: cream 8 oz of room temperature unsalted butter and 8 oz of room temperature cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on medium high speed until combined and creamy.
- Add ¼ cup of granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of almond extract extract and beat on medium speed until combined and fluffy.
- Sift in 2 cup of all-purpose flour, and stir on low speed until just combined.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured board, and shape into a disk. Divide into 4 equal portions, shape each into a ball then flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- To make the almond paste: add almond meal, powdered sugar and salt to a medium bowl and mix to combine. Separate 2 large eggs into whites and yolks. Save the yolks for later. Add the almond extract and the egg whites to the almond meal mixture, mix with a spatula until a paste form. Divide into 4 equal portions, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour until ready to use.
- To start assembling: take a portion of the almond paste out of the fridge. Dust a piece of parchment paper with powdered sugar, set the almond paste in the middle and place the piece of plastic it was wrapped it on top. Use the palm of your hand to press it into a round disk. Use a rolling pin to help you roll it out into a circle between 8" to 9". Set aside or place back in the refrigerator. Note that you are rolling this out in between the parchment paper and the plastic wrap.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a 9” circle, working with one disk of dough at a time.
- Take out the rolled out disk of almond filling. Peel the plastic off the top and flip it on top of the rolled out dough, try to center it as best as you can. Use one hand to massage the back of the parchment paper to help the almond paste stick to the dough, and with your other hand slowly peel back the parchment paper.
- Cut the circle into 12 triangles using a pizza wheel. First cut the circle into quarters, then cut each quarter into thirds.
- Roll the larger end of each triangle in to make a crescent shape cookie, place cookies on a parchment line baking sheet. Keep assembled cookies in the refrigerator or freezer while you repeat the process with the remaining disks of dough and almond paste.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Beat the leftover egg yolks with a tablespoon of milk to make egg wash.
- Brush egg wash all over the cookies, sprinkle granulated sugar generously over the cookies and add sliced almonds on top.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar generously before serving.
Notes
- The homemade almond paste can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. This recipe yields about 14 oz of almond paste filling.
- You can substitute store bought almond paste or marzipan in this recipe. It will take 2 packages, each is 7 oz.
Nutrition
Serving: 26g | Calories: 114kcal
