Friday Recipe: Rugelach

Rugelach are a rolled pastry of Ashkenazic (central/eastern-European) descent. Apparently one can make them with all sorts of fillings, though I'm of the belief that chocolate is the only good way to go. I might make an occasional exception for cinnamon-sugar, maybe.

I happen to think my rugelach (based off a Joan Nathan recipe) are pretty good; I don't, however, claim that they ascend to heights anywhere near that of the rugelach one buys at Marzipan (in Machane Yehudah, Jerusalm). On the plus side, I'm pretty sure the caloric content of mine is minor compared to those. And this recipe only requires 6 ingredients. How easy can you get?


Chocolate Rugelach
Makes 32

2 sticks non-salted butter, softened
8 oz. low-fat cream-cheese
2 c. flour

6 oz. chocolate chips
1 tbsp sugar
cinnamon

1. Cream together butter and cream-cheese.

2. Slowly add flour to the creamy mix. Use hands as necessary to fully integrate the flour.

3. Place dough in refridgerator for at least 1 hour.

4. Make topping: in a food processor, chop chocolate chips into small pieces and add sugar/cinnamon (a couple dashes) to mix.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6. Remove dough and halve. Take one half and roll into a ball. Then roll out ball of dough into a circle of dough, about 1/16" thick.

7. Sprinkle half the topping over the dough. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, divide circle into 16 parts. Roll each section up, starting at the wide end and rolling toward the center of the circle. If necessary, use water to "seal" the rolled up dough. Place on cookie sheet.

Repeat for second ball of dough.

8. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, checking once halfway through. If necessary, coat with melted butter to keep the rugelach shiny (I rarely need to do this).

9. Enjoy!

Notes:
*These are dairy, but there are rugelach recipes that are pareve/lactose-free, so go a-searching for them.

*I suppose you could use another topping -- fruit jam, chopped nuts and sugar, cinnamon-sugar, whatever else strikes yor fancy.

*I cover my baking sheets with aluminum foil to contain the mess. This is optional.

*I find it easiest to dip my fingers in water before rolling the rugelach as it helps the dough to stick.