Rugelach

Cinnamon Sugar Pecan Rugelach

Chocolate Rugelach

These "cookies" are super duper rich.  I mean, a cup of butter and a stick of cream cheese rich.  If you've never tasted rugelach, they're like a rich rolled up pie crust with a slightly sweet filling.  I've seen recipes that call for jam (boysenberry is delicious, but use sparingly), and I sometimes use mini chocolate chips, or like today, finely chopped Dove dark chocolate.  It's easy to do several different kinds, though, since you sort of end up with four different "logs" before cutting.  So, theoretically, you could do four different kinds.  This recipe is a variation on one I found on allrecipes.com, and it requires a food processor.  I suppose you could use a pastry blender in a pinch, although I've never tried it.

Rugelach

Ingredients

Dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream

Filling:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Glaze:

• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon water      

Instructions
1.   Cut cold butter and cream cheese into bits. In food processor pulse flour, salt, butter, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly. (I suppose you could also do this with a pastry cutter, but a food processor does a great job.)

2.   Pour half of the crumbly mixture onto a 1 ft. piece of plastic wrap, and shape into a rectangle about 5 x 8 inches or so. Wrap up in plastic wrap.  Repeat with the other half.  Refrigerate 2 hours to 2 days.

3.  Combine sugar, cinnamon, chopped walnuts. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Roll each rectangle into a rectangle that is between 1/8 and ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle rectangle with sugar/nut mixture. Press lightly into dough. With chef’s knife or pizza cutter, cut rectangle lengthwise into two thinner rectangles. Roll each rectangle to form a long log. 

4. Cut each log into 1½ inch segments, so you end up with 9-10 segments per log.  Place pieces onto either an ungreased baking sheet, or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Beat egg white 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp water.  Brush each piece with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar.

 Bake rugelach in the center rack of your oven 22-24 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers.

Chocolate rugelach, before baking

Cinnamon pecan rugelach, before baking