For this week's recipe, I thought I'd share one of our family traditional cookie recipies. They're not 'officially' connected to Hanukkah, although we've made them at our house for decades. They're great for assembly line preparation with kids. And enough work so that they're a definite 'occasion' treat. You can also make the dough well ahead of time, which is another plus in my book.(Sorry I don't have a real photo--I'm not actually making these until next week.)
Rugelach
Pastry:
2 sticks butter
8 oz. cream cheese
½ t salt
2 c flour
Filling:
½ c + 2 T sugar
1 T cinnamon
3 T melted butter (you might need more)
¾ c. dried currants (or raisins, but chop them down to currant size first)
1 ¼ c finely chopped walnuts.
(rumor has it mini chocolate chips are good here, too!)
Instructions
Pastry
In a large bowl of electric mixer, cream butter & cream cheese until
completely blended & smooth. Beat in the salt and gradually add flour on
low speed. Wrap and refrigerate overnight. (I've even frozen the dough for weeks in advance.)
Take a third of the dough and stick the rest back in the fridge.
Place 1 ball of dough on floured surface (I use a Tupperware pastry sheet). Roll into a circle about ⅛ inch thick.
Filling:
Combine everything except the butter.
Assembly:
Brush pastry with melted butter. Sprinkle with filling. Roll filling gently into pastry with rolling pin. Cut into wedges (I can usually get 16 from each circle of dough.)Roll each wedge, jelly roll fashion, rolling from the outside toward the point.
Then place each little roll, with the point down, 1 inch apart on a cookie
sheet. Curve them slightly - they're supposed to be horn or crescent
shaped.
Pastries may be glazed with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp water before
baking. You can also sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until golden.
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4 comments:
Oh those sound really good Terry I think I will see if my sister will let me bring my great nieces over during Christmas Break and make these. I'm goign to copy that receipe into a word document to keep. I needed some cheering today and this sounds like fun.
Kathy - we had an efficient assembly line process when the kids were around. I miss that when I have to make them on my own.
Sounds really tasty! Thanks for the recipe. :)
Elizabeth - you're welcome
Karen - do the dough a few days (or more) ahead. Then it's not such a big deal.
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