Rugelach-Apple Crumb
Apple Crumb Rugelach is a take on a super, fantastic cookie with fall flare.
Rugelach Intro
I remember when I first discovered the rugelach cookie. It was culinary school and I had never heard or tasted of this delicious pastry cookie. They remind me so much of a pastry than a cookie. The rugelach recipe is just super wonderful and so easy to prepare. I use it in most of my sweet mini tart cookies. Very user-friendly!
What Does Rugelach Taste Like?
Rugelach is not your run of the mill cookies, they have almost a laminated dough taste in that they are buttery and flaky like a pie a croissant rolled into one. Traditionally, the dough is made with flour and cream cheese. Giving it a real unique for these cookies.
Fall Version Rugelach
I wanted to turn this traditional holiday cookie into a fall version with apples. Most of the rugelach I have made all contained some kind of jam or jelly as the filling. Going with that tradition, I decided to incorporate apple jelly for a fall them and throw in its favorite companion, cinnamon sugar to complete that traditional fall flavor combination.
Rugelach Crumb Topping
However, I adore crumb coated anything! So, I decided to throw a crumb mixture into the cookie and use my all-time favorite, apple crumb pie as an inspiration for this cookie. I was so anxious as I made the first batch to see how this vision would come together.
Happily, excited after taking that first bite, I knew we had something here. It totally tasted like a mini apple crumb pie. The pastry was so delicious as it wrapped around all that apple goodness. It was one of those moments where you thought maybe you were in cookie heaven??? Nothing wrong with that!
I hope you enjoy them as much as my family has.
If you love apple check out these posts with techniques and recipes:
Apple Rugelach Assembly
The method for assembling these is a bit different than most cookies and I have seen several versions in this. My go-to way and the way I taught:
- Roll the dough into a circle
- Place filling over the dough and any additions like nuts or chocolate chips
- Slice into triangles
- Roll up and bake
Feel free to be creative and throw in other spices like nutmeg and allspice to spice up the cookie a bit. There really is no end to imagination here with this cookie. Try different jams and jellies. Fig would be great for fall with a sprinkle of crushed walnuts. I can see more test kitchen tasks in the future.
One of my favorites is raspberry or strawberry jam and mini chocolate chips, delicious!
Let me know what your favorite flavor combination is, post in comments below!
PrintApple Crumb Rugelach
Apple jelly sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and crumb topping rolled into to a delicious cookie that taste much like a fancy pastry.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (softened, unsalted)
- 4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 1 T sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4–1/2 cup apple jelly
- cinnamon sugar mixture
- 1/2 cup crumb mixture
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp water
Crumb Topping
- 1 TBS sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup flour
- 5 TBS butter (cold, cut into pieces)
Instructions
Dough
- In a stand mixer with a paddle, add the butter, cream cheese, and sugar and mix till creamy.
- Add in the sugar and vanilla and mix well.
- Add in the flour and mix till the dough comes together.
- Form into a disc and wrap in Saran wrap and refrigerate a few hours till firm. Prepare the crumb topping and refrigerate till ready to use.
- Remove the dough and allow to sit out at RT to take the chill off the dough. Be careful not to allow it to become to warm as it will stick when rolling out.
- Preheat the oven to 350 line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Combine in a small bowl the egg and water and mix well. Set aside.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface to form a 12″ circle. I like to roll the dough out and use a tart ring as a guide for cutting a perfect circle.
- Stir the jelly well and then spread a very thin coat on top of the dough, leaving about 1″ border along the sides.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and the crumb topping. Press down lightly to adhere the crumb to the jelly.
- With a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 4 quarters. Then slice each quarter into 4 sections, the ends being about 2″ for a total of 16 pizza slices.Optional: For larger cookies slice each quarter into thirds to make a dozen cookies.
- Starting from the outside larger end, roll each slice crescent roll style then place on the parchment paper. Continue till the rest of the cookies are all rolled out.
- Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle a small amount of crumb mixture on top.
- Bake about 25 minutes till lightly browned. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes and remove to cool on a wire rack.Excess jam may come out of the cookies while baking so removing them from the baking pan before they completely cool will allow them to be removed much easier.
Crumb Topping
- Place all the dry ingredients in a mixer with paddle attachment or a medium bow. Mix together well. Add the cold butter and mix well till small crumbly mixture. Takes a few minutes on medium speed. Or mix with a pastry blender to distribute the butter into the mixture.
- Refrigerate till ready to use. You can also make this up ahead of time and freeze. Just remove from freezer a few hours before using or place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw.
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