These rugelach, or little crescent pastries, are Jewish cookies of Ashkenazi origin. Our version is a little out of the ordinary with its use of sesame seeds and tahini. Also, we have not used the traditional cream cheese based pastry, but a regular whole wheat pie crust dough of your choice. This can be homemade or store bought. This recipe also would work well in using up scraps of leftover pie dough.
Makes 12 rugelach.
Ingredients:
- 2/3 c pitted dry prunes, minced
- 1/4 c honey
- 1/4 c tahini (sesame paste)
- 1 single whole wheat pie crust, chilled
- 2-3 Tbsp buttermilk
- 2/3 Tbsp sesame seeds
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the prunes, honey and tahini.
- On a lightly floured board, roll out the chilled pie crust as you would for a pie, until it is a 1/8 inch thick disk.
- Drop the prune mixture in the center of the disk and spread it out in a circle to within 1 1/2 inches from the edges.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the pastry into 12 even wedges (dividing the circle in half, half again, and then cutting each quarter into three wedges). Roll the rugelach, starting from the wide outer edge and rolling towards the center.
- Place sesame seeds in a saucer. Brush the rugelach with buttermilk and lightly press tops into sesame seeds.
- Place the rugelach, evenly spaced, on the prepared cookie sheet and bake 35 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to a rack and cool for 30 minutes or more before serving.