ABC Maple Pecan Medjool Date Rugelach

King Arthur Flour has an excellent description and step by step process of making Rugelach. Thanks to Hanna for sharing. I also scoured all my cookbooks that had recipes for Rugelach because I have been meaning to make this for some time now.

Confession: I spent an hour leafing through my indexes to find the "1" I wanted. I had a perfect picture in my head of the recipe...it was not in the index under R! but for C... chocolate chip.

Finally, with Baking for All Occasions and my Bon Appetit Christmas Cookbook in hand I started the Avid Bakers Challenge.
Should I mention that it was past midnight. My mother use to say, "Nothing good happens after midnight." I think for once, I may have proven her wrong. Although, I was having doubts when my dough was not big chunks like the King Arthur description. And I did worry that it would not ball up...after a lot of time pulsing.

Finally: the dough!

Refrigerated over night.

Rolled out to 8 inches.

Pure maple syrup.

Cinnamon and brown sugar.

I do not care for dates. I did want to make this exactly but when I went to buy dates they were so big and...well squishy slimy looking. I am feeling sick just thinking of it!!! So I bought sugar coated date bits.

Rolled. The dough is very easy to handle and tasty. I couldn't help myself from sampling little bits.
For my none nut family members...cherry preserves, cherries, and mini chocolate chips.

The King Arthur cookbook suggested leaving the ends and middle free of filling so they closed when rolled better.

I always keep my nut things very separate!!! I rarely use nuts, due to the girl's allergies, but I think that Rugelach is something that screams NUTS.

MMM beautiful. I served these after a simple dinner of roast chicken, fresh cranberry relish, roasted garlic root veggies, corn, and spinach salad.
I really didn't think I would like the maple and date combo. In fact I was determined not to like it. I have a thing against maple...but they were my favorite. The chocolate in the other was too sweet.
Baking for All Occasions has provided an excellent and easy to follow road map to perfection on this recipe.

And now to really make you want to "Eat your heart out"...the message my husband made and left for me today.

Comments

HanaĆ¢ said…
How fun to experiment with different flavors. Something this recipe can definitely handle. I did the same thing as you: leaf through my books for Rugelach recipes. My copy of Nick Malgieri's "Cookies Unlimited" also specified to keep the middle free of filling. I just followed Flo's instructions anyway.
Hanna,
Too be honest with you...I didn't notice a difference between keeping the center free and doing it Flo's way..and her way is faster.
I wanted to see if they would make good leftovers but we ate them all!!
Jen said…
I love maple and pecan, but I've never even heard of these (unless the word is pronounced very different from how it's spelled). The love note is great.
Vicki said…
Your's turned out perfectly! I loved these cookies. That Gourmet book looks really interesting.
Vicki said…
Oops, it's Bon Appetite!
Sarah said…
Wow that looks amazing as usual!