My lovely friend Zsuzsa blogged about this cottage cheese dough and I knew I had to try it. It truly makes a wonderfully flaky pastry and I encourage you to try it. I made these with almonds as a friend’s daughter is allergic to walnuts and it was incredible. I have another tub of cottage cheese in the fridge waiting to be made into another batch. By the way, I used fat free cottage cheese and it worked out remarkably. I also made half of the dough.
Rugelach
Please see Zsusza’s recipe here.
Better than Croissant dough, because it’s not that bad for you
Makes 24 small Rugelach
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup small-curd cottage cheese (I used fat free)
- 1 cup unsifted flour
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Directions:
- Spoon the cottage cheese into a sieve over a bowl lined with a unbleached coffee filter; drain for at least 2 hours, or overnight
- Remove 1/2 cup of the cheese for the dough; reserve the rest for another use.
- Pulse the flour and salt just to combine in a food processor (this is why you need not sift it). Add the butter to the flour pulsing on and off until the butter seems to disappear into the mixture.
- Add the cottage cheese in bits to the mixture pulsing to combine until it becomes a relatively loose dough ball.
- Divide the dough into four equal portions and shape each into a flat disc and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Rugelach Ingredients:
- 1 batch of cottage cheese dough
- 1/4 cup strained apricot jam
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup finely chopped almonds
- 1 egg yolk for glazing
Rugelach Directions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°F
- Once the dough is refrigerated and cooled, lightly flour your rolling area. Roll each portion into a circle about 25 cm or 8 inches in diameter. Cut into 6ths like a pie.
- Combine the chopped almonds with 2 tbsp sugar.
- Brush the dough with 1/4 of the apricot jam, sprinkle 1/4 of the almond sugar mixture on top. Starting with the wide end, roll each 6th into a little crescent, pinch the ends a bit and turn into each other. Brush with the whisked egg yolk.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper (you will thank me because the jam will melt out and make a darn mess on your baking sheet). Bake 20-25 minutes until golded. store in an air tight container. These freeze particularly well. Serve either warm or at room temperature.
Kitcheninspirations 