Rugelach

Doing the "Brought to you by the letter..." meme last week had inspired me to make some rugelach over the weekend. These little Jewish pastries are so flacky and delicious, you can't eat just one! I am serious! The first dozen was gone in less than 15 minutes after it came out of the oven! We managed to control ourselves and saved the second dozen for the next day.

This is a very simple and easy to make recipe (the recipe looks long but it's not complicated at all). The unbaked dough freezes very well. Just make them and freeze individually. When you crave for some, just pop them in the oven and add about 5-10 minutes to the baking time and you got yourself a treat!

There are many varieties for the fillings, pretty much it's whatever you prefer. I personally love the cinnamon sugar filling and raspberry jam filling. I have seen chocolate & walnut filling but have not tried it yet. Some people prefer apricot jam with raisins.

Rugelach
This recipe makes 4 dozens. Feel free to make only the portion you want and freeze the rest of the dough. Or make all of it but bake only what you want and freeze the rest of the unbaked rugelach individually.

Ingredients:
Dough
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I was out of vanilla extract so I used 1/4 tsp orange extract, it gave the dough a nice hint of citrus)
2 cups AP flour
a pinch of salt (optional)



Filling - Cinnamon Sugar
4 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon



Filling - Raspberry Jam
Raspberry Jam, stirred to loosen it a bit (I didn't measure how much jam, I just scooped it out of the jar and spread on the dough, so I guess you will have to kinda "eye-ball" it)
A handful of chopped nuts (optional)



Topping **Note: You could do this step or you could do what I did: just roll the rugelach in the cinnamon sugar mixture before placing them on the baking sheet
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon



Instructions:
1) In a mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy(you could use an electric mixer or food processor).
2) Beat in sugar and vanilla extract. Scraping sides of bowl occationally. On low speed, beat in flour and salt until incorporated.
3) Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap/parchment paper and press it together to form a ball. Divide the dough into 4 portions and wrap each portion with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
4) For filling, combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
5) Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit on the counter for about 15 minutes or until it's malleable to roll.
6) For easy rolling of dough, place one sheet of plastic warp(10" - 12" wide) on the counter, lightly floured the wrap and then place 1 portion of the dough on the plastic warp. Place another sheet of plastic wrap on top of the dough and roll out the dough into a 9" circle (about 1/8" thick). Remove the top sheet, flip dough over and remove the bottom sheet of plastic wrap. Now you are ready for the filling.
7) Brush melted butter on the dough and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. For Raspberry filling, spread jam generously on dough, sprinkle with chopped nuts if you prefer. I sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the jam, taste pretty good. Use a knife, cut the dough circle into 12 triangles or "pie pieces".
8) Start at the wide end, roll up the triangle. You could bend the ends to form a crescent shape. Place the rugelach, point underneath, about 2" apart on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate, covered with plactic wrap, for at least 20 minutes. The dough is chilled to maintain the most even shape.
9) While you wait, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are making more than a dozen, repeat steps 6-8.
10) For the topping, brush the rugelach with milk. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle on the rugelach.
11) Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. For even baking, rotate the baking sheets halfway through the baking time.
12) Remove from oven. Using a spatula, transfer rugelach to wire racks and cool completely(that is if you can wait that long). Enjoy!

Consider yourself warned: You can't eat just one!!!