Dorie Greenspan's Rugelach Secrets

By cuznvin

In those days, my major baking tools were a mixing bowl and wooden spoon and they're what I used to make the dough. Hand mixing is still a fine way to make this easy dough, but nowadays I use a food processor, which mixes the dough in an instant and keeps it cool and supple.

Here are a few tips for making the dough:

* Take the cream cheese and butter out of the refrigerator just 10 minutes before you're going to use them - they should be still cold and only a tad soft. (If you're making the dough by hand, the cream cheese and butter should be softened until they're spreadable.)

* Give the dough a leisurely chill in the fridge before rolling it out. Two hours is a minimum chill, overnight is even better.

* Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface. This is an easy-rolling dough, so you'll ace it first time out.

* Warm whatever jam you're using until it liquefies, then cool it a bit; you don't want the hot jam to melt the dough.

* Chop the nuts and fruit for the filling. The rugelach themselves aren't very big and the dough is thin, so the filling should be generous but not super chunky.

* The best tool for cutting dough is a pizza wheel; second best is a sharp chef's knife.

* Refrigerate the cookies after you've assembled them - they'll hold their shape a lot better if you bake them when they're cold.

* Under heat, the butter in the dough and the jam and cinnamon-sugar in the filling are exuberant bubblers and dribblers, so use a lined baking sheet. This is a perfect job for a silicone baking mat or nonstick aluminum foil.

Part II: Making them ahead

The assembled cookies freeze perfectly (I prefer to freeze them unbaked) and it's a good thing they do because my mom, who had been in for the weekend, was dreading her flight back to Florida and I hadn't had a minute to make her anything that might sweeten the trip. Happily, there were rugelach in the freezer.
While she was packing, I pulled out the frozen cookies,
brushed them with egg wash, sprinkled them with sugar, then baked them - no defrosting necessary.
They were still a little warm when I tucked them into her carry-on bag.

Ingredients

• For the Dough
• 4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecans, but you can use walnuts or almonds)
• 1/4 cup plump, moist dried currants
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
• For the Glaze
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 2 tablespoons sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar
• For the Filling
• 2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

Step 1

Makes 32 cookies

TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes — you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.

Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds — don't work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.

Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)

TO SHAPE THE COOKIES: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the currants and half of the chopped chocolate. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.

Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, then to cut each quarter into 4 triangles.) Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking. (The cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

TO GLAZE: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with the sugar.

Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

SERVING: Tea is traditional, but we drink coffee with rugelach. These are pretty and, even with their jam-and-fruit filling, not overly sweet, and they are even good with sparkling wine.

STORING: The cookies can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months.