Cashew Cardamom Rugelach Buns
For Hanukkah — or anytime!
Hey everyone, and welcome to cookie season! I have some fun things in store for you in the coming weeks, and I’ve really enjoyed working on this year’s recipes. I’m also excited to announce that we’ve created a cookie index so you can easily find your favorites from years past (including some from my personal website). Look out for that in your inbox tomorrow.
I really appreciate everyone who commented on my New Cookies Are Coming thread a few weeks ago. It was great to hear what you love, and I incorporated a lot of your suggestions into my concepts, so thank you! If you didn’t comment, it’s not too late. I’d love to hear what you think. There’s always next year!
One thing that came up several times in the thread was rugelach, a traditional Jewish treat. For some reason, in the past, I’ve scoffed at rugelach being called a “cookie,” and have always considered it to be more of a pastry. However, I decided if that many of you want rugelach, then rugelach I shall give you. You wore me down! I was thinking about how and where in this year’s cookie lineup to incorporate cardamom too, and then all of the sudden, it all came into view … a mashup of a Swedish cardamom bun and a traditional rugelach, shared in time for Hanukkah.
Shaping the “cookies” in a different way gives them a whole new personality, and a hidden schmear of cashew butter makes them irresistible. Now, I know cashew butter can be tricky to find, and I really prefer raw cashew butter like this one, which is a pale tan color. To me, it just fits in best with the vibe of this cookie. If you can’t find it, you can make your own or use almond butter instead.
I really love this recipe, and I think you will too. They are easy and fun to make, and they are sophisticated and more-ish. The cream cheese and butter dough is classic, but the flavors and the shaping are not. Somehow, these can take a lot of cardamom, so feel free to go a little crazy with it. If you love a Swedish cardamom bun, you will love these, and try to use freshly ground seeds rather than ground cardamom if you can. See below for more on that.
I like to think I take a different approach than some when cookie-making. I’m inspired by ingredients — something in my pantry might spark an idea for a new flavor combination. I’m aiming for complex, interesting flavors and textures. They are never cloyingly sweet, but I do love chocolate, and I think it can take a cookie over the top, so you’ll see that ingredient make an appearance in a recipe later this month.
A general note about this recipe and just about any cookie recipe: You can modify the technique depending on what equipment you have, and how you want to go about making your dough. Some comments in the cookie thread requested that doughs be made by hand, so that no mixer was necessary, and I had another request that doughs be made by machine due to mobility or dexterity issues. I ended up making a few of my doughs this year — including this one — using my food processor, which, to me, is a quick and easy way to mix up a cookie.
For this rugelach dough, it comes out more layered and flaky if you cut the cold butter in using the food processor. BUT, you can also make it by hand with a pastry blender and/or your fingertips, as if you were making pie dough. You can also use your stand mixer, though will need to switch up the technique a little. Start with softened butter and cream cheese and cream those together before adding the dry ingredients. Your dough will have a slightly different texture but it will work just fine. So you see, you have choices!
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Some Rugelach Tips:
I know it’s a little bit of work, but shelling the cardamom seeds from the green pods will make a big difference; instead of a fine powder, you’ll end up with larger, fresher pieces that will create bursts of flavor in your mouth. Use the side of a chef’s knife to crack open the pods and then grind the seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
You can also buy “decorticated” cardamom seeds easily online or in a good spice shop. Then all you have to do is grind them. Order them here, here, or here.
Use a bench scraper to help form the dough packages into neat rectangles, after you wrap them in plastic.
Chilling the formed rugelach buns for a couple hours or even overnight is fine, if you want to prepare in stages.
When egg washing the rugelach, be fairly generous (without excess dripping off) and do only ⅓ to ½ of the tray at a time before finishing them with cardamom and sugar (and salt). That way the egg will still be wet and will allow the sugar to stick.
If you can’t find or don’t want to buy cashew butter, try almond butter instead.
The final yield will vary depending on how thin you cut the strips. Thinner strips will result in slightly smaller cookies, and more of them.
It’s very helpful to have a pastry cutter like this one, but you can also use a pizza cutter.
I like to eyeball it when cutting the strips, because perfection doesn’t matter with these, and you can adjust the width as you roll along.
Watch this reel to see how I twist the dough to form the buns!
Cashew Cardamom Rugelach Buns
Makes about 40