Rugelach Crescent Shaped Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to cream cheese mixture and mix well. Divide dough into fourths. Wrap each portion; refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., Roll out each portion between 2 sheets of waxed paper into a 12-in. circle. Remove top sheet of waxed paper. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush each circle with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle each with 3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar and 2 tablespoons pecans. Cut each into 12 wedges., Roll up wedges from the wide end; place pointed side down 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Curve ends to form a crescent shape. , Bake at 350° for 24-26 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Brush warm cookies with remaining butter; sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar.

Steps:

• Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse 10 times. Pulse in cream cheese until the mixture becomes crumbly. Sprinkle in buttermilk and pulse until the mixture comes together when pressed. Transfer the dough to a work surface, and divide into thirds. Wrap each third in plastic, and shape into a disc. Refrigerate discs for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. In a small bowl combine apricots, sugar, and nutmeg; set aside.
• On a floured board, roll out one of the discs to 1/8-inch thickness. Using an inverted bowl, cut dough into a 7 1/2-to-8-inch circle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into wedges, dividing it first in half, then into quarters, then into eighths. Brush each section lightly with jam, and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon of apricot mixture, leaving the narrow ends clear. Roll each cookie into a crescent shape, beginning at the wide end, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush each cookie with egg white, and sprinkle with almonds and then sanding sugar. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and store in an airtight container. Repeat with remaining 2/3 of dough.

Steps:

• To prepare dough, beat cream cheese and butter together with a mixer at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add half the flour, beating at low speed only until blended. Stir in remaining flour.
• Scrape dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Turn to coat with flour and divide into thirds. Shape each portion into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
• To prepare filling, combine sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
• Roll one portion of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle. Brush with one-third of the butter and sprinkle with one-third of the walnut mixture. Cover with wax paper and press filling into dough. Remove wax paper. Cut into 12 wedges. Roll each wedge from its wide edge, and set rolls point side down on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough, butter and filling.
• Brush rolls lightly with egg yolk mixture. Bake about 30 minutes, until pastries are golden brown. Rotate baking sheets top to bottom and front to back during baking to ensure even browning. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Steps:

• 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.
• Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 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 extra 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.
• To finish: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
• Bake the cookies 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.