It has been a while since I’ve been here, writing. Summer vacation and traveling just kept me away but I’m back….

Took the kids out berry picking the other day. It was GREAT fun and we picked so many cherries and raspberries that I’m going to make some berry treats this week. But first, I wanted to share the wonderful Rougalach recipe.

Rougalach is a very popular treat in Israel. All bakeries bake them ,and Friday is usually the strongest day for the sales of Rougalach. They are small treats of rolled yeast dough, similar in shape to Croissant but smaller and the texture of the dough is different. Croissant are very airy and the butter is usually folded in, in steps,  after the dough is ready, while most Rougalach are either soft or flaky in consistency. The butter can be added while preparing the dough for a faster, easier process or folded in for a more flaky consistency.

I love fresh Rougalach and the best thing about baking them home-made is that the dough needs to rest over-night in the fridge, which promises that the house will wake up to the wonderful smell of chocolate or cinnamon treats in the morning.

It is not very time-consuming, and if you love yeast like I do, you will truly enjoy this wonderful dough.

Dough:

3.5 cups flour

1 spoon of dry yeast

Teaspoon salt

1/5 cup sugar

1 cup lukewarm milk or rice-milk for a dairy free version

2 eggs room temperature

100 gram (3.5oz) soft unsalted butter or a dairy free alternative (Fleisman’s dairy free for example)

Although dry yeast do not need to be dissolved before use, I like to treat them like fresh yeast and ‘wake them up’ before using them.

Place flour and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate dish place the lukewarm milk with 2 TBSP sugar and yeast, mix and let rest until the yeast starts rising.

When the yeast is ready, add the yeast, eggs and rest of the sugar to the flour and mix well. Lastly, add the butter and mix until you get a smooth dough, it might be a bit sticky but not enough to stick to your fingers. The dough should be smooth, flexible and nice to work with. Cover and let rest until it doubles in size.

After the dough has doubled, take it out and roll it on a lightly floured surface to a big rectangle, then fold of it a third into the center and the other third above it. Roll out again and fold again. This will make the dough airy.

Cover tight and let the dough rest in the refrigerator over night.

After a night’s rest, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle, spread your choice on top (recipe ideas following), cut the dough into triangles and roll them, similar to croissant.

Place the rolled Rougalach on baking paper on a flat pan, and let rise for about an hour.

Bake in 350F, 180C for about 20 minutes.

Take the Rougalach out of the oven and brush with sugar syrup (recipe following).

Chocolate filling:

1/2 cup high quality cocoa powder

1/2 cup+2 tbsp. sugar or brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon or more if you like it stronger (as I do…)

150 gram, 9 tbsp. melted butter.

Melt the butter and mix the rest of the ingredients with the butter. Let cool a bit and spread over the dough.

You can also take the fast route and spread Nutella (Yum!).

Cinnamon Filling:

150 gram butter

1/2 cup sugar

4 tbsp. cinnamon

Melt the butter and add the sugar and cinnamon. let cool and spread over the dough.

Almond Filling:

This is a delicious marzipan like filling.

1/2 cup sugar powder

200 gram (7oz) ground almonds

2 tbsp. cornflour

200 gram (7oz) unsalted butter

2 eggs

3 spoons rum or whiskey

Mix everything well in a food processor until you get a smooth spread and cool until using.

Sugar syrup:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Mix in a small saucepan and cook until reaching a syrup consistency.