Have you been baking up a storm, or do you wait till this week to do it all? I love to bake for friend and neighbors and these chocolate orange rugelach are so delicious and unexpected. Your friends and neighbors will love getting a treat that they probably have never had before! I looked up the origin and it looks like these are traditional viennese treats, what makes them traditional “rugelach” is the cream cheese dough. Oh the cream cheese dough, its really good. 🙂
Sometimes I get overwhelmed at the holidays and making an entire plate of different types of cookies is just not going to happen, and guess what thats totally OK. I think your friends and neighbors, just like mine, appreciate the thought and to be remembered and also to have the one simple treat you brought them. As you can see in the photo these are easily delivered in little bakers boxes, so darling and festive and so delicious.
A tip for the dough is to let it cool in the fridge between mixing and rolling out. Its a sticky dough, so even with the cooling, so be prepared to add some extra flour as you roll it out and try to not over work it. The key to a good rugelach is the baking time. Don’t over bake, you want them to be nice and chewy like a crescent roll or soft cookie.
After you roll the dough out into a circle you place the fillings on the big circle, the opportunities are endless here. Seriously you can make a million different combinations. Traditional rugelach have chopped nuts with fruit jam or preserves, which sounds delicious, but I decided to go for the orange chocolate combo that is so Christmas time to me. I think adding some orange marmalade would also have been a good call with the chocolate chips, you only get a hint of orange with the orange zest so if you want a stronger orange flavor smear some delicious marmalade on that dough.
Chocolate Orange Rugelach
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of coarse salt
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
For the Filling
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup of mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the Dough
Beat the cream cheese and butter together until creamy with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and mix until fluffy. Add egg yolks and mix until combined. Add vanilla and salt and then the flour. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated and you have a sticky dough.
The dough will be really sticky so you need to refrigerate it. Dump out the dough onto a Roul’pat or a floured work surface and form into 3 discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for a few hours.
Assemble the Rugelach
The cool dough will still get sticky as it warms up when you are rolling it out so add a little bit of extra flour to your roul’pat or work surface. Roll each disc out one at a time, you want it to be a circle (mine turned out more of an oval as you can see in the photos) you want it to be a bout 1/4″ thick.
Spread the zest of the orange out on the dough and the chocolate chips, I usually just zest the orange right over the dough. Next cut your circle into triangles like pizza slices. Start rolling each triangle from the widest part to the skinny party (like you would a crescent roll).
Lay each piece on a silpat lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 18 minutes. They will be slightly golden. Let cool for a few minutes and then Enjoy!
You might also like my pumpkin pecan spice rugelach! Hop on over and check it out 🙂
About Angela Muir
- Red, White, and Blue Frozen Yogurt Bites - June 12, 2015
- Gluten Free & Dairy Free Banana Cake - March 13, 2015
- Double Chocolate Chocolate Crinkle Cookies - February 13, 2015
- 14 Statement Necklaces You’ll Love - January 31, 2015
- Chocolate Orange Rugelach - December 18, 2014
- Chambray & Plaid - November 29, 2014
- {Style Contributor} The perfect teen pencil skirt - September 27, 2014
- DIY Polymer Clay Sand Dollar Necklace - August 23, 2014
- Maxi Skirt Refashion - June 28, 2014
- Handmade White Lace Dress - May 24, 2014