Rugelach

I'm not a super fan of rugelach, but they are what I tend to snack on after Shabbat services most weeks.  They have chocolate ones.  I have leftover cherry filling from the cake, so that's what I'm making first.  It was also one of the photos on the can.

For those who have never heard of them, they're cookies from Eastern Europe that are popular in the Ashkenazi Jewish community.  Properly pronounced ruh'-ge-luch', with the "ch" being a glottal stop, they're more commonly pronounced rug'-uh-luh, or "you know, those yiddish cookies".

What I did not realize until I bookmarked Ina Garten's widely respected recipe, from her book Barefoot Contessa Parties!, was that these are essentially shortbread cookies.  No egg, lots of butter, and cream cheese to hold it together.  It makes four dozen, so I made up one quarter and froze the other three as discs.  I can defrost, fill with whatever I want, and bake off the rest at a later date.  Chocolate ganache or Nutella make great chocolatey fillings if you aren't into my cherry or Ina's fruit and nut.  A thick layer of cinnamon sugar is also a good flavoring.

I'm only posting the dough recipe, so please refer to the links if you want the whole thing and a video.  Without filling, you could also make these as eggless rolled or refrigerator cookies.  They would be a touch on the bland side, so a chocolate dip or drink for dunking would be in order.

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 sticks (1 C, 1/2 lb) unsalted butter, also room temperature
1/4 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour, plus more for rolling

1.  Realize there are equal parts fat and flour in this recipe, get over it, and move on.

2.  Cream together cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer with the paddle.  Scrape down and beat a little more.  Add salt, sugar, and vanilla and beat 1 minute.  Scrape down and beat again.

3.  With mixer on low, slowly add the flour until evenly blended.  Liberally flour a work surface and pour out dough onto it.

4.  Divide dough into 4 pieces.  I did it by weight, and Siri comes in handy when your hands are doughy to do math for you.  Shape each quarter into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or freeze for later.  Use this time to prepare your filling.

5.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Roll out each disc on a floured board into a 9" circle.  Spread filling all over the circle, including the outer edge.  Cut in 12 wedges.  Roll each wedge from the outside in.  Transfer to baking sheet, point down.  Chill for 30 minutes.

6.  Preheat oven to 350º.  If desired, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with an appropriate garnish like sugar, cocoa, nuts, or coconut.  Bake 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.  Allow to cool several minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack.  Cool on a rack before dusting with powdered sugar or a drizzle of icing, if using.

Makes 4 dozen

Difficulty rating  :)