Looks Aren't Everything!

I have never tasted let alone made Rugelach so this was a fun challenge for me. After debating about 50 different recipes, I settled on a fairly simple one that would derive its flavor from dried apricots and apricot preserves.
I enjoy tinkering with recipes and, unfortunately, this poor cookie suffered the consequences. I OVER-tinkered without accounting for how that would affect the texture and taste of the cookie.
Let me give you the REAL recipe without my changes first (from allrecipes.com):

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter a nd cream cheese. Beat in 1/4 cup of sugar and vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir until well blended. Turn out dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and press together to form a ball. Divide the ball into 4 portions, wrap each one in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small bowl, toss together the brown sugar, 6 tablespoons white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and the chopped dried apricots. Set aside.
3. Roll out each portion of dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the apricot preserves over each circle, then sprinkle each one with some of the dried apricot mixture. Using a knife, cut each circle into 12 wedges like a pizza. Starting at the wide end, roll each piece individually up towards the point. Bend the ends around to form a crescent. If dough is sticky, return it to the refrigerator to chill. Place rugelach point sides down, two inches apart into a parchment lined or greased baking sheet. Brush with milk then spri nkle with a mixture of the remaining 1 teaspoo n cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar.
4. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes in the preheated oven, until gold en. Rotate the cookie sheet halfway through to ensure even baking. Rem ove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

   

   

So, what did I do to this poor, innocent baked good? We ll, first I used fat-free cream cheese. Why? Because for some reason, I had an untouched tub in my fridge. I don't use fat-free cream cheese but I figured why not use it here? My next mi stake was to completely replace the butter with creamed coconut. These two things meant that the dou gh was impossible to work with. It crumbled and wouldn't roll in to the shape that rugelach is meant to be.

BUT-taste was actually not ruined. As bad as these cookies look is as good as they taste. If you dare.

Posted by -Colleen