We’d never heard of a rugelach until we spotted the Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Rugelach in the freezer aisle at our local TJ’s store. In case you’re like us and you’re unfamiliar with this treat, it’s a type of pastry that originated in Poland. Today, however, it’s especially popular in Israel, where it can be found in most coffee shops and cafes. We can’t say for sure if the Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Rugelach is authentic or not, but we can say that it’s pretty tasty.
Preparing this batch of rugelach is a little bit of a hassle. The treats are stored in an aluminum tray, which is wrapped in plastic. When we removed the plastic to toss our treats into the oven, the date paste dripped everywhere. This sauce is pretty tasty, and it’s a shame to see it go to waste!
Cooking this is the easy part — it doesn’t require much more than preheating the oven and letting it cook for 15 minutes. Getting everything out of the oven, though is a little bit trickier. We’re lucky we covered our tray in aluminum foil before we tossed it in the oven, because even more of the sauce leaked onto the pan while this was cooking. The pastries stick to the bottom of the aluminum tray pretty relentlessly, and it might take a bit of effort to get them out of the tray and onto a plate.
Although preparing this treat can be a little frustrating, we have no complaints about the treat itself. Our pastries came out of the oven perfectly browned, and these have a delicious flaky crust. Even though the date spread seems to leak everywhere, it doesn’t have a big impact on the taste of the pastries. Every bite is bursting with a cinnamon-infused flavor.
Even though this is a sweet treat, it’s not overly sugary. We suspect that it’s because of a lot of the sweetness is coming from dates. If you’re not a big fan of dates, you don’t need to worry. This is made with a spread, not fresh dates, and the taste isn’t overwhelming at all. In fact, the pastries taste more like cinnamon than anything else!
Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Rugelach is our introduction to rugelach, and we have to say we’re pretty impressed! While we wish this treat were a little less messy, we have to admit that it tastes delicious. If you decide to make this at home, you’ll want to take a few precautions so that you don’t wind up with date spread all over your kitchen. As long as you do that, you’ll find a lot to like here!
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this Trader Joe’s frozen dessert, check out our package scans below.
