Jam and walnuts rugelach (cornulete cu gem) are perfect cookies all year around for holidays or potlucks. Easy to make, easy to serve and delicious.
I was just thinking that if I was going to make the world a better place, I would do it with cookies. I am sure you already heard about rugelach cookies. Traditional ones are made in the form of a crescent by rolling a triangle of dough filled with different ingredients.
It could be jam, any kind of jam, it could be only nuts, or Turkish delight. These little delicious cookies are one of the many memories of my childhood. The cookies are easy to make, melt in your mouth and you will not be able to stop after one or two. Good bye diet, good bye common sense! THEY. ARE. DELICIOUS!
Over the years, I tried multiple recipes that use different ingredients from lard to margarine and butter, from yeast to yogurt and baking soda. Recently, while I was looking through my books and recipes I have all over the place in my house, I found this old recipe I totally forgot about. A pastry dough made with farmer cheese. Yes, you are reading correctly, farmer cheese!
In the past, I used to make this dough all the time because it is versatile and easy to make. You can use the dough for anything. Romanians make pies with it, cookies, pastries etc. The dough will not stick to your hands, it is easy to work with and the final result is a flaky delicious product that will make you beg for more.
How to make the jam and walnuts rugelach (Cornulete cu gem):
Mix together the soft butter, farmer cheese, flour, pinch of salt and one tablespoon sugar. You should end up with something like this:
Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for few hours or until the next day. When ready to make the cookies, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and take out the jams and some chopped walnuts(optional).
Heat up the oven to 350F. Roll out the dough over a lightly floured surface, giving it a round shape, like a small pizza.
I used a pizza cutter to slice the dough. The idea is to have triangles of dough that will be filled with jam and then rolled.
Put a dollop of jam and a small piece of walnut(optional) on the bottom of one of your triangles.
Loosely roll up the cookie and place it on the cookie tray covered with parchment paper.
Continue doing this with all your triangles until done. Bake them at 350F for about 13-15 mins or until golden brown.
Remove the cookies from the tray and place them on a cooling rack.
Grab a paper bag and put some powder sugar inside. When cookies are cool, throw and toss them in the bag, then place them on a platter.
Then enjoy them!
Or maybe you want to join The Bossy Kitchen community group where you can share your creations made from this blog or from other sources. Everyone is welcome to join!
- Equals amounts of flour, butter and farmer cheese, so I encourage you to weight everything.
- 300 g soft butter( equals 2.6 sticks of butter, or aprox. 21 Tbsp)
- 300 g farmer cheese( about 1.5 cups approximately)
- 300 g all purpose flour( equals 2. 5 cups approximately)
- a pinch of salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons powder sugar
- For the filling:
- Any jam you like (I used apricot jam and blackcurrant)- you can use strawberry, raspberry, plums, apple
- Chopped walnuts(optional)
- Mix together the soft butter, farmer cheese, flour, pinch of salt and one tablespoon sugar.
- Cover and put it in the refrigerator to chill for an hour.
- Heat up the oven to 350F.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it over a floured surface giving it a round shape, about 13 inches big.
- I used a pizza cutter to slice the dough. The idea is to have triangles of dough that will be filled with jam and then rolled. Cut about 16 triangles.
- Put a dollop of jam and a small piece of walnut(optional) on the bottom of one of the triangles.
- Loosely roll up.
- Place the cookie on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
- Continue doing this with all your triangles until done.
- Bake them at 350F for about 13-15 mins or until golden brown.
- Remove them from the tray and place them on a cooling rack.
- Grab a paper bag and put some powder sugar inside.
- When cookies are cool toss them in the bag, then place them on a platter.
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