Festive Holiday Rugelach

Recipe posted for ZWT II 2006, taken from web site RecipeRewards, I find that posting recipes found on other sites here gives me more accurate and informative nutritional values. Love Zaar!!! This is a colorful rendition of a traditional recipe.

• Ready In: 48 mins
• Serves: 72
• Yields: 6 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups butter (3 sticks)
• 12  ounces cream cheese, softened
• 3 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar
• 3⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 3⁄4 cups  miniature M&M baking bits, divided
•  powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets; set aside.
2. In large bowl cream butter and cream cheese. Slowly work in 3 cups flour. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into squares. Lightly flour dough, wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Combine remaining 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar.
3. Remove one piece of dough at a time from refrigerator; roll out on surface dusted with flour-sugar mixture to 18x5x1/8-inch thick strip.
4. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle dough strip with 2 tlbs sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup M&M's on wide end of each strip. Roll dough starting at wide end to completely enclose baking bits. Cut strip into 1 1/2 inch lengths; place seam side down about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake 16 to 18 minutes until golden. Cool completely on wire racks. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store in tightly covered container.
6. ***Variation***.
7. For crescent shapes, roll each piece of dough into 12 inch cirle. Sprinle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Cut into 12 wedges. Place about 1/2 tsp M&M's at wide end of each wedge and roll up to enclose baking bits. Place seam side down on prepared cookie sheets and proceed as directed.