Today’s post is a multi-tasker.  It is my post for Lazy Susan, but also my contribution for Week 10 of 12 Weeks of Christmas.  This is one hard working little cookie.  For Lazy Susan, we are doing a virtual cookie exchange.  If you start here, and click around from blog to blog, you will come away with quite a few new and delicious cookie recipes.

If you have ever had rugelach before, than I do not have to tell you that it is a cross between a pastry and a cookie.  The crust is a tender and flaky cream cheese pastry, slathered with jam, then sprinkled with a cinnamon-sugar-walnut mixture, rolled into a little crescent shape, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar again.  Baked until golden brown, with melty jam oozing out of the seams.  These are a treat.  They sell them in delis on the East coast, and whenever I see them, I have to have some.  They come in all sorts of flavors, apricot being the most traditional, but there are chocolate, raisin, all kinds.  The other wonderful thing about this cookie, is that it freezes like a dream.  Make a batch now, and you can enjoy them at Christmastime.

1 stick (8-ounces) room temperature cream cheese
2 sticks room temperature room temperature butter
1/4 cup plus 9 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 egg

Cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl periodically.

Add 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Add the flour, and mix until it just comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board.  Roll the dough into a ball, and cut into quarters.  Flatten each out into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  In a small bowl, combine 6 Tablespoons sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and walnuts.  Set aside.

In another small bowl, combine remaining 3 Tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Roll the dough out into a 9-inch circle.  As you can see, mine is not perfect.

Spread a few Tablespoons of jam on to the crust, leaving about an inch bare.  Sprinkle a generous amount of the walnut mixture on top of the jam.

Roll up the dough from the widest end to the shortest.  Chill the rolled cookies for at least one hour before baking.

Beat the egg with a drop of milk.  Brush the tops of the rugelach with the egg wash and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Rugelach freeze like a dream, so you can make them up to a month in advance.  Adapted from GOOP and Chozen.

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Rugelach [Week 10 of 12 Weeks of Christmas]

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Ingredients

• 1 stick (8-ounces) room temperature cream cheese
• 2 sticks room temperature room temperature butter
• 1/4 cup plus 9 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1 egg

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Instructions

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl periodically.
2. Add 1/4 cup sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add the flour, and mix until it just comes together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Roll the dough into a ball, and cut into quarters. Flatten each out into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small bowl, combine 6 Tablespoons sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and walnuts. Set aside.
5. In another small bowl, combine remaining 3 Tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
6. Roll the dough out into a 9-inch circle. As you can see, mine is not perfect.
7. Spread a few Tablespoons of jam on to the crust, leaving about an inch bare. Sprinkle a generous amount of the walnut mixture on top of the jam.
8. Roll up the dough from the widest end to the shortest. Chill the rolled cookies for at least one hour before baking.
9. Beat the egg with a drop of milk. Brush the tops of the rugelach with the egg wash and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
10. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Ready for the next cookie?  Head on over to Amanda Prince’s blog to see what she has baked for us.