Eggless Baking: Rugelach Pinwheels

Yes, yes, I am obsessed with Smitten Kitchen. I think that's pretty clear from my track record. Anyway, after refreshing constantly for new recipes, I had the brilliant idea of going back through her older recipes for inspiration. Specifically, I went through the cookie list because I was tired of making the same old cookies over and over for friends and family. One recipe that immediately caught my attention was for rugelach pinwheels. I didn't even know what they were much less tasted them before, but the pictures were enticing and the recipe seemed straightforward enough. 

For my first time making an unknown cookie, I think they turned out pretty well:

And some process pictures I snapped along the way:

Some lessons that I learned during the process:

1. Rugelach, which I had for the first time, reminded me a bit of Pepperidge Farm Verona cookies but with walnuts and raisins added to the mix. I'm not sure if that's how they're traditionally supposed to taste, but I liked it. It also went well with a nice, strong black tea. I unintentionally had a little tea party with the family serving a delicious Assam alongside these cookies. 

2. The filling didn't look like much when I spread it across the sheet of dough, but after it's all sliced up, there was clearly enough in there. Good thing that I trusted the recipe!

3. When slicing rolls of dough into individual cookies, I noticed the dough warming up to room temp pretty quickly. As that happened, it became progressively harder to cut them neatly because they squished and lost shape. So I suppose the lesson is to cut them fast while they're still cold. 

4. Jam is sticky. When you combine it with sugar and melt it in the oven, it gets stickier. Even with my silicone baking mats, I had to be careful when prying the cookies off. It's not a deal breaker by any means, but something to be mindful of.

5. Eggless cookies can be awesome! I was worried when I noticed the absence of egg in this cookie recipe, but they turned out just fine without them. I have already forwarded this recipe to a friend who doesn't really buy eggs. Some of my other tried and true eggless cookie recipes are pecan sandies, chocolate chip shortbread cookies, and jam thumbprint cookies.

Anyway, I'm not going to count this as my December recipe because I actually did this in November. Plus, I have grand plans for my December recipe. We'll see if I can follow through on that.

-jennkay

Categories: baking, cookies, eggless baking, rugelach, smitten kitchen