Claire Saffitz Makes Holiday Rugelach Cookies | Dessert Person

Claire Saffitz Makes Holiday Rugelach Cookies | Dessert Person
Join Claire Saffitz as she puts a creative spin on traditional rugelach cookies with a recipe inspired by her time in France. Drawing inspiration from pruneaux d’Agen fourrés, a delicacy of stuffed prunes flavored with almond and port, Claire crafts rugelach with a rich prune and port filling wrapped in a tender almond pastry. While not your typical rugelach, these cookies blend Jewish baking traditions with French-inspired flavors, resulting in a festive treat that tasters have called the best rugelach they’ve ever had. Perfect for the holidays or any time you want to bake something truly special!

#clairesaffitz #dessert #cookies

PRUNE FILLING
10 ounces (283g) pitted prunes (about 2cups), coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons port or red wine (3.2 oz / 90g)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
(2 oz / 57g), cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
1⁄4cup granulated sugar (1.8 oz / 50g) Pinch of kosher salt
DOUGH AND ASSEMBLY
7ounces (198g) almond paste
2cups all-purpose flour (9.5 oz /270g), plus more for rolling
1⁄4cup granulated sugar (1.8 oz / 50g)
1⁄2teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1⁄4teaspoon Morton kosher salt
4ounces (113g) cream cheese, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces, chilled
1stick unsalted butter (4 oz / 113g), cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces, chilled
1teaspoon vanilla extract 1large egg (1.8 oz / 50g), beaten
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:40 How To Make Prune & Almond Rugelach
01:22 Ingredients & Special Equipment
02:25 Kerrygold
03:17 Make the Dough
08:34 Cook the Prune Filling
12:25 Roll the Rugelach
17:03 Brush with Egg & Sprinkle with Sugar
19:12 Bake
22:01 Cat Cam

Video Series:
Producer/Director: Vincent Cross
Camera Operator: Calvin Robertson
Editor: Hal McFall

Animation Credits:
Character Designer/Animator/Backgrounds: Jack Sherry
Character Rigger: Johara Dutton

Theme Song: Mike Guggino

[manuelatauscher]

The subtle focus on Felix's airplane ears when you start food processing 😂

[ZmenitBussler]

Claire needs to do another travel series this time in Ireland to visit Kerrygold

[NicAyBear]

I love how between this and NYT's Cookie Week, we can see that Claire's focus this holiday season was "tiny spirals"

[preesh]

14:21 “just gonna freehand a circle” — circle comes out perfectly 😂

[fannylang]

Love the subtle camera angle on Claire’s cute baby bump! Congrats Claire! “Claire the Dessert Person welcomes Baby the Tidbit Person”

[lechatbotte.]

100% some of the best cookies for the holiday. I could eat a dozen no problem. Claire always knows what I love

[deine.freundin]

yes! finally some prune appreciation. my sisters always call me old for liking them

[LindseyLouWho]

Absolutely empathetic and thoughtful baker's cookie. Thanks for understanding the nature of the Holiday Bakes and how CRAZY it can get! I spent the week after Thanksgiving ruining tempered chocolate for truffles, babying refrigerated slicing doughs so they'd stay in shape, and hovering over my antiquated electric stove to make sure my dear husband's special keto cookies (almond flour and coconut flour, Claire. HELP ME CLAIRE.), to ensure they don't go from "molten puddles of almond goo" to "pucks of solid carbon." But these seem so accessible with a LOT of payoff; visually, quantity-wise, and taste-wise! Wow! BTW, I made your caramel apple crisp this Thanksgiving and my two teenage sons ran off with it, spoons in hand, and returned an empty dish to the sink around midnight, lol. My kids don't have well-developed palettes (yet, hopefully!), so it was astonishing to see them lean in so hard to something I baked (that wasn't choccy chip cookies)! Thank you SO Much! I couldn't have made that memory without YOU! Happiest of holidays to you and yours!

[kjdude]

Homemade Almond paste recipe:
200g Fine Almond Flour
160g powdered Sugar
1 egg white
2 tsp Almond Extract
1 tsp Orange flower water (or Orange Cocktail bitters or Rose water.)
Pinch of salt.
Blend in a food processor until it comes together into a solid mass. Hand knead a few times and roll into the a log. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and chill overnight to hydrate.

[jannie]

Thanks Claire. Perfect filling for rugelach. Prunes are underated and they give so much flavor for so little effort!

[PorterCollins]

Happy holidays Claire and Crew + cats!

[suratiivey]

I adore rugelach, love love. Never would I have thought of dried plum, almond and port. But I LOVE all of those. Thx so much for this inspiration. Love this fresh idea, it's timely because in all kinds of areas of my life I seek to change things up, reinvent, refresh, let go of too much reliance on past acheivements

[miseentrope]

Request: could you please do a "Fig Newtons" Claire Recreates? (The prune filling for rugelach kinda sent my brain there.) Love your cats and crew and all the things you do. 🥰

[winterfawn]

Kerrygold is the only butter I will use. Nothing compares. ❤❤❤

[gniewugar]

OMG, these are amazing! I made them with marzipan and Disaronno as almond paste is not widely available in shops in the UK. Very almond forward, but goes so so well with prune filling.
Thank you Claire!

[WhatAboutZoidberg]

I have Rugelach dough in the fridge chilling for after work today, what remarkable timing. Back in college I wanted to make a cookie tin for family and made 4 all new recipes. Rugelach was so good I still make them over a decade later. Apricot & cinnamon is my fav classic flavor, though I'm trying black currant and gooseberry jams this year.

[hejenemy]

Made this for Christmas before seeing this video and it was a total banger. Loved it. Great standout from traditional (boring) holiday cookies. Thanks Claire!

[marissablackwing]

It's been a few years, but we used to make Kolacky for the holidays. A mix of cherry and apricot, usually. Love those things.

[PDC]

Very casual, clear, and concise directions. Bravo !

[natashasadaeva]

You've unlocked a childhood memory! My grandma baked these things and I want to make these too - but probably after Christmas 😂 also 🍼