Rugelach (Filled Cream Cheese Cookies)

evelyn/athens's Note:

I cannot imagine holiday-time without rugelach around. They are the most addictive, filled cookie ever! I usually make 2-3 times the recipe (inviting a friend over for coffee, chat and helpful rolling), then freeze and bake as needed. You will have none left by the end of the holidays, trust me. The bake time is approximate - it could be slightly more or slightly less, depending on how big you make the rugelach.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 12 mins
• Prep Time: 50 mins
• Cook Time: 22 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 40 approxi ...

Dough

• ½ lb unsalted butter , softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1 pinch salt

Topping

• ½ cup butter , melted
• ¼ cup sugar (during the holidays, I use one of those coloured sugars)

Nut Filling

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 ½ cups finely chopped nuts (I like to use walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts)
• 3 tablespoons butter , melted

Jam Filling

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup jam (I like to use apricot, peach, strawberry or raspberry)

Chocolate Filling

• 3 tablespoons butter , at room temperature, combined with
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Date Filling

• 3 tablespoons butter , at room temperature combined with
• ¾ finely chopped dates , and
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl or food processor, cream the butter and cream cheese together.
2. Add the pinch of salt and sugar.
3. Beat in the flour, a little at a time.
4. Knead the dough lightly until all the flour is incorporated.
5. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
6. Prepare one of the fillings by combining the ingredients (except the 1/4 cup sugar for the topping) and set aside.
7. Flour the surface you will be rolling out the pastry on very generously.
8. This is a delicate dough and is apt to stick.
9. Roll out one of the portions of dough into a 10 inch in diameter circle.
10. With a knife or pastry wheel, cut the pastry into 10-12 pie-shaped wedges (depending on how large or small you want the rugelach to be- I go for smaller).
11. If the dough is sticky, dust it with a little flour.
12. Sprinkle or spread a little of the filling of your choice on each little wedge.
13. Beginning at the wide edge, roll the dough up toward the point, as you would make a crescent roll or a croissant, turning the ends in slightly to achieve the crescent.
14. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a tiny bit of the topping sugar (this step can also be done just before baking and ensure that the sugar is not knocked off in the freezer).
15. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.
16. At this point, I pop the cookie sheet directly into my freezer and freeze the rugelach individually.
17. When frozen, I pack them into ziploc bags to use at whim over the holidays (and not just) so they can be freshly-baked for any occasion.
18. Preheat oven to 350°F and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden, brushing with melted butter after 15 minutes if desired.

Reviews

[GSCook]

Fabulous and easy!! I was a little concerned about the nut filling so added three tablespoons of butter. These came out so delicious! Lots of complements on my Christmas cookie tray with these as the centerpiece!! I'm going to make them again this weekend with the jam filling! Edit: Made these with almond pastry filling that you can buy in a can at the grocery store in where the pie fillings are sold. Can I just say, "DIVINE"?? A must try. My mom is a rugelach-aholic and she says that this recipe with the almond filling is the best she's ever eaten! Edit no. 2: Made these with apricot jam and almond flour (for the ground almonds). What a great and versatile recipe. These were as delicious as all the other times I made them. SO glad I found this recipe!

[pattikay in L.A.]

I love rugelach and this was my first time making them. Not complicated to make - you just have to leave yourself sufficient time to put it all together. I made all of the fillings, and when I looked at the date filling and the nut filling, somehow they wanted to be together, so I combined them and that was my favorite filling. Then I added some cinnamon to the sugar that I used for topping. I did NOT brush them with butter after 15 minutes of baking because I thought it would be butter overkill - but next time I believe I will do the extra brush of butter. Thanks for sharing!

[Random Rachel]

Awesome!!!! I made 8 with the date filling, and the rest with strawberry jam. Ground almonds didn't sound appealing to me, so I just used the jam, some of which bubbled out, but most of it stayed in. I will be making these again :-) I had to edit my review to say that my husband LOVED these, and ate half of them while I was in the other room writing the review! For ZWT4 Flying Duchess'