[Mezzaluna]

I have a batch of rugelach dough that I don't want to bake right now if I can help it. Here's the recipe:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pound unsalted margarine
2 cups sour cream

[Suzanne]

I can't really answer about freezing, but of course I have to answer a question with another question : since it's already got sour cream, why on earth did you have to use margarine?

[Mezzaluna]

Suzanne, it was Raymond Sokolov's recipe from The Jewish-American Kitchen. It makes a wonderfully rich dough (big surprise, right?) that's very well-behaved for rolling out and forming the cookies.

I saw one of Ina Garten's that had both cream cheese and butter! Could I swap butter for the margarine in equal amounts, or would the amount need to be changed?

I put a chunk of the dough in the freezer but I still have a full batch of dough to use up. I'd rather freeze it for later but may just have to make more rugelach to use it up if I don't hear that it can be frozen.

[cookie mama]

Hi Mezzaluna,
Does the recipe come from a religous oriented recipe book? If so, maybe butter is not mentioned because it is a dairy product?
In most or all recipes I bake I use only butter. The only time I use an alternative is when they say to add "both". In this case I assume they are looking for a specific texture.

[Mezzaluna]

Yes, it's a Jewish-American cookbook with mostly Eastern European Jewish cooking. Since there's sour cream in the recipe, it's definitely dairy, so it wouldn't matter if you used butter or margarine.

I would like to know if it will suffer if frozen.

[cookie mama]

Hi Mezzaluna,
Have you tried posting a new thread on the professional pastry chef forum? I believe you will get a more reliable answer there if nobody comes forward for you on this issue. Good luck

[Erik]

I can think of no reason it couldn't be frozen, or would really be harmed by being frozen...
How was it mixed? (More curious than thinking it would effect it's freezability)

P.S. I freeze most everything I make at work. All of it much more delicate than this seems to be. We have no problems with it.

[Mezzaluna]

Thanks, Eric. I used a hand mixer for one batch and the food processor for the other. (I won't use it again; the dough wasn't uniformly mixed enough.)

[Mezzaluna]

I thawed the dough and baked it yesterday. It didn't suffer at all- baked up flaky and tender as if fresh.

I've been tutoring a friend so she can have her bat mitzvah (at age 48), and she's asked me to bake a batch for the reception afterwards. I'll be able to use the dough I have in the freezer.