Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki Cookies
A vintage, Slavic-style roll-up cookie, these Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki are the perfect teatime treat.
Today we’re heading to Eastern Europe for a cookie that is beloved around Christmastime. Rogaliki (pronounced ro-HAH-li-ky) are filled, rolled up croissant-style cookies.
They feature a jammy center tucked into tender dough and are finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. Sometimes spelled rohalyky, many variations of these cookies exist throughout Ukraine and its diaspora.
In my version, dried cranberries, walnuts and honey make up the filling, for a fragrant and festive bite that hints of baklava. They’re not overly sweet and pair well with a strong cup of tea. Trust me, this is a recipe worth handing down to future generations.
Rogaliki: Slavic-Style Roll-Up Cookies
I was first introduced to rogaliki when baking for a fundraiser with my local Ukrainian community here in Nova Scotia. There were as many filling variations as there were bakers – poppy seed, apricot jam, rose petal compote – all wrapped up in that tender sour cream dough. As we turned out hundreds and hundreds of cookie that day, my obsession with rogaliki was born!
In her Eastern European cookbook, Chesnok, author Polina Chesnakova describes rogaliki as similar to rugelach, only the filling is concentrated in the center of the cookie, rather than spread out over the dough. In Georgia, cookies similar to rogaliki are referred to as cigaretki.
In Romania they go by cornulețe, and the dough is often wrapped around cubes of Turkish delight. And in her award-winning cookbook, Tava, Romanian author Irina Georgescu filles her roll-up cookies with a fragrant rose-petal jam and douses them generously with powdered sugar.
Whether you spell them rohalyky, rogaliki, or ‘scuffles’ as I heard once from a Canadian Ukrainian, we can all agree that this cookie technique is worth preserving.
Rogaliki Variations
We love our tried and true cookie classics, but it’s equally as comforting to have a baking recipe that can be adapted to suit personal preference and/or use what you have on hand.
In our house, everyone has their favourite fillings. I adore rose petal jam, but my kids (super tasters) cannot handle the pungent flavour. The boys love Nutella, Clara? Strawberry jam. Today’s variation with dried cranberries, walnuts and honey keeps everyone happy!
Here are a few more ideas for filling your rogaliki. Consider the soft sour cream dough your blank canvas to get creative.
- Jam of all sorts, especially apricot and raspberry
- Nut pastes such as Nutella, pistachio paste, chopped nuts
- Mincemeat
- Marmalade of all kinds
- Quince Compote
- Rose petal compote or jam
- Poppyseed paste
- Dulce de leche
Tips for Making Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki Cookies
Rogaliki cookies are a cozy baking project, ideal for a blustery winter evening in from the cold. These are guaranteed to make the whole house smell like Christmas; here’s how to ensure they taste even better than they smell!
- Read through the full recipe before starting to bake. There are two chilling times to be aware of. PS: If you’re looking for a 30 minute cookie, make these Spice Snaps instead.
- Sour cream is the secret to an impossibly soft dough (also the secret ingredient in my cinnamon buns), so don’t skimp. In some recipes for rohaliki, I have seen plain kefir used, so that’s another option.
- Patience! Chilling the dough yields a tender cookie.
- Lightly toast your walnuts before grinding them up for the filling for an even deeper flavour.
- Use fresh ground cinnamon if possible.
- Always line your baking sheets with parchment as the filling can escape the cookies and caramelize on the pan.
- If you’re looking for a cookie with more of a snap, like pie crust, increase the baking time by 6-8 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
Do-Ahead Ideas
These Ukrainian Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki cookies freeze well and are the ideal baking stash to have on hand during the winter months. I like to bring a few dozen along when I’m a guest a holiday brunch or dropping in on friends in the afternoon. They travel great and are always well received.
Here are a few do-ahead options.
- Make and Chill the Cookie Dough. Needs 2h in the fridge to chill and can hold up to 48h, well wrapped.
- Make the Filling. Can be made 48h in advance. Keep chilled and airtight.
- Freeze the Rolled Rogaliki. Once the cookies are shaped, you can freeze them on parchment-lined trays. Bake from frozen until golden (like croissants!)
- Freeze the Finished Rogaliki. Once cooled, package them in airtight tins and freeze up to 6 weeks.
Recipe: Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki
This version of rogaliki is inspired from Chesnok: Cooking from My Corner of the Diaspora: Recipes from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Hot of the press, it’s one of my latest cookbook obsessions, and not just because it features stunning Ukrainian verenyiki! on the cover!!
The author, Polina, uses raisins in her recipe, but dried cranberries are local to me here in Nova Scotia. I love how well they pair with walnuts and have used them in place of the raisins, along with a pinch of cinnamon. Feel free to use golden raisins, currants, cranberries or whatever you have that’s similar.
Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 egg yolk save the white
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Cookie Filling
- 1 cup walnut pieces toasted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 tespoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3 Tablespoons liquid honey
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and salt together with a sturdy wooden spoon until well combined. You can use a mixer if you like; I prefer to muscle through this one.
- Mix in the egg yolk and sour cream until well combined. Don't worry if it looks a little curdled. Tip in the flour and baking powder and mix just until it comes together into a shaggy dough.
- Scrape out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times to bring it all together. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces (a digital scale helps here), shape them into discs and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 2 hours and up to 48h.
Make the Filling
- We're going to grind everything up together so use what equipment you have here: blender, food processor, or a big knife and cutting board.Pulse the walnuts, sugar, salt and cinnamon together until finely chopped. Add the dried cranberries and pulse again until they are roughly chopped.
- Scrape the mixture into a small bowl. Pour in the liquid honey and egg white. Stir together until thouroughly combined.
Make the Cookies
- Line two baking sheets with parchment. Lightly flour a clean surface and rolling pin. Working with one disc of dough at a time, roll the dough into a 13-inch circle. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the circle of dough into 16 wedges, like a pizza!
- Place a teaspoon of walnut filling at the wide top of the wedge. Turn the edge of the dough over the filling, then roll up the dough like a croissant. Repeat with all the wedges of dough, Transfer the small cookies to the baking sheet, point side down.
- Chill the rolled cookies for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375℉. Then roll, cut, fill and roll the remaining 2 discs of dough as instructed above.
- Bake the chilled rogaliki cookies on the middle shelf of the oven for 18 minutes. They will be light golden in colour. Transfer to a cooling rack set over a tray or baking sheet. Dust cookies with powdered sugar while warm and again when cooled.
Tur Scripti