Raspberry Chocolate Walnut Rugelach

Ingredients

For The Dough:

Raspberry Jam and Cinnamon:

Bittersweeet Chocolate:

Walnuts:

Optional Glaze:

Instructions

  1. Prepare 4 pieces of parchment paper each 18-inches long; set 2 aside.
  2. Place the other 2 pieces of parchment paper side by side on a work surface and lightly dust each with flour.
  3. To make the dough:
  4. Remove the cream cheese and butter from the refrigerator and cut into quarters. NOTE: The cream cheese and butter should be cold.
  5. Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. See comment section below if you do not have a food processor.
  6. Scatter the chunks of cream cheese and butter over the dry ingredients and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times.
  7. Once the butter and cream cheese are coarsely broken up, process in long pulses, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds. NOTE: Don’t work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.
  8. Turn the dough out on a work surface and gather it together.
  9. Divide the dough in half.
  10. Shape each piece of dough into a round ball and then flatten each into a disk.
  11. Place the first disk on one of the prepared pieces of parchment paper.
  12. Dust the top of the dough with flour.
  13. Cover with one of the pieces of parchment paper that was set aside earlier.
  14. Using a rolling pin, roll the piece of dough into a circle that is 11 to 12-inches in diameter. Don't worry if the dough is not perfectly round or has an uneven edge.
  15. Repeat the above process with the second piece of dough.
  16. Slide the 2 dough circles, still sandwiched between the pieces of parchment paper, onto a baking sheet. YES, you can stack the rolled out pieces of dough.
  17. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
  18. Preheat oven:
    Standard Oven: 350°   |   Convection Oven: 325°
  19. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  20. In a small bowl whisk the cinnamon into the raspberry jam; set aside.
  21. Prepare ground walnuts; set aside.
  22. Prepare the chocolate and set aside.
  23. Working with one piece of dough at a time, carefully peel away the top piece of parchment paper from the dough.
  24. Flip the dough circle over and peel the bottom piece of parchment paper away from the dough.
  25. Place the dough circle back onto one of the pieces of parchment paper.
  26. Use an offset spatula or regular spatula spread half of the jam in a thin layer of over the first round of dough.
  27. Sprinkle half of the chocolate over the jam.
  28. Sprinkle half of the chopped walnuts over the layer of chocolate.
  29. Cover the round with a piece of parchment paper.
  30. With a rolling pin, roll over the parchment paper lightly to press the filling slightly into the dough; set round aside. NOTE: If your kitchen is overly warm, refrigerate the first round while you work on the second round.
  31. Repeat steps with second round of dough.
  32. Using a pizza wheel or a long knife, cut each dough round into quarters and then cut each quarter into 4 triangular shaped wedges. You should end up with 16 triangular shaped wedges per each dough round.
  33. Starting on the outside edge of each wedge, roll the dough toward the point so that you form a small crescent shaped cookie. Don't worry if some of the filling falls out.
  34. Place the rolls point side down about 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
  35. For Optional Glaze:
  36. Beat one egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water.
  37. Brush the top of each rugelach lightly and evenly with the egg yolk wash.
  38. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are using a standard oven rotate the cookie sheets halfway through the bake to ensure even browning.
  39. The raspberry jam will likely bubble and burn around the edges of the rugelach but the bottoms will be fine.
  40. Immediately remove the rugelach from the baking sheet onto cooling racks. DO NOT wait to remove as they will stick to the parchment paper!!!
  41. Cool and serve.
  42. The rugelach can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months.

Comments

Makes 32 rugelach.

The egg glaze is optional. It will give the tops of the rugelach a beautiful golden and shiny finish but if you're not fussy about the appearance then by all means skip this step.

Mixing The Dough With a Stand Mixer: If you do not own a food processor you can make the dough using a stand mixer. To do this bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature. In the work bowl, mix the butter and cream cheese together and then gradually add the flour until the dough begins to come together. As you mix you will need to scrape the dough off of the paddle several times. When the dough forms large curds turn it out and pull it together with your hands. Form 2 dough balls and flatten into disks. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Follow the steps in the instruction section above for rolling out the dough into 11 to 12-inch circles, refrigerating and preparing the rugelach.

Click here for Spiced Currant Walnut Rugelach.

Click here for Spiced Apricot Pecan Rugelach.

Categorized in