Savory Rugelach Food

SPINACH AND FETA RUGELACH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Set the frozen spinach out on a plate at room temperature to soften slightly.
• Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and a few turns of black pepper and cook until fragrant, 1 more minute. Add the flour and stir to combine, then stir in the spinach and a good pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is heated through and the mixture is combined. Stir in the feta, heavy cream, lemon juice and hot sauce, then remove it from the heat. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
• Roll out half of the pie dough on a lightly floured surface until it is a large round, about 1/4 inch thick. (If using store-bought pre-rolled dough, simply unroll it onto your surface.) Spread on half the spinach mixture in an even layer so that it covers the dough. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the dough like a pizza into 8 triangular wedges. Roll up each section starting at the wide end. Transfer the rugelach to the lined baking sheets, placing them 1 inch apart. Repeat with the other half of the dough and spinach filling.
• Lightly brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt.
• Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge and reheat in a toaster oven.

RUGELACH

Steps:

• Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and cream cheese at medium speed. Add sugar, and beat until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, beating to combine after each addition. Add vanilla and salt, and beat to combine. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour. Remove from bowl, and divide into 3 pieces on a lightly floured surface. Pat into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to overnight.
• Make the filling: In a food processor, combine walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse until fine.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats). On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 12-inch round, less than 1/8 inch thick. Brush evenly with jelly. Sprinkle with one-third of the walnut mixture and one-third of the chocolate chips. Using the rolling pin, gently roll over filling to press ingredients into dough.
• Cut the round into 16 equal-sized wedges. Beginning at the base of each wedge, roll to enclose filling, forming crescent shapes. Pinch to seal. Place on prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough and filling ingredients. Brush tops with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

RUGELACH

Steps:

• Cut cold butter or margarine and cream cheese into bits. In food processor pulse flour, salt, butter or margarine, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly.
• Shape crumbly mixture into four equal disks. Wrap each disk and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.
• Combine sugar, cinnamon, chopped walnuts, and finely chopped raisins (may substitute miniature chocolate chips for raisins).
• Roll each disk into a 9 inch round keeping other disks chilled until ready to roll them. Sprinkle round with sugar/nut mixture. Press lightly into dough. With chefs knife or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges. Roll wedges from wide to narrow, you will end up with point on outside of cookie. Place on ungreased baking sheets and chill rugelach 20 minutes before baking.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• After rugelach are chilled, bake them in the center rack of your oven 22 minutes until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers...they freeze very well.
• Variations: Before putting the filling on the dough, use a pastry brush to layer apricot jam as well as brown sugar. Then add the recommended filling. You may also make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and roll the rugelach in this prior to putting them on the cookie sheets.

SAVORY RUGELACH

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse flour, butter, cream cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until dough leaves sides of bowl.
• Divide dough into 8 equal portions; wrap separately, and chill at least 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare the pesto by baking the pine nuts in a shallow baking pan at 350F, 5 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.
• Pulse pine nuts, basil leaves, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides.
• Pour oil through food chute with processor running, and process until blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll one dough portion at a time into an 8-inch circle.
• Spread each circle with 3 Tablespoons pesto filling, leaving a 2-inch circle of uncovered dough in the center.
• Cut each into 8 wedges and roll up wedges, starting at wide end.
• Place, point side down, on a lightly greased baking sheets.
• May be frozen at this point for up to one week.
• Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

PUMPKIN RUGELACH

Steps:

• Prepare the dough. Cut the butter and cream cheese into tablespoon-sized pats and let soften for 10-15 minutes. Pulse the flour and salt in the food processor, and then add the semi-softened butter and cream cheese and pulse several times, until the mixture has formed large crumbly chunks (this can also be done very easily with a pastry knife, if you've got a sleeping baby and don't want to use the food processor). Gather the dough together into two large balls, flatten into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for two hours or up to overnight. While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmery. Toss in the chopped shallots, sage, and aleppo and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin puree and cook for 5 minutes more, to help evaporate some of the water in the pumpkin. Season with two healthy pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from the heat to cool down (the filling should not be hot when you spread it on the dough). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the dough has chilled, roll each disk into a 12" circle on a well-floured board. Make sure you flour the underside of the dough often, so that it doesn't stick. Spread half of the cooled pumpkin filling onto each disk, and then distribute half of the finely chopped walnuts over each disk. Using a bench scraper (or knife, or pizza cutter), cut the dough into 16 triangles. Roll up each triangle, starting from the base, to form a crescent, and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Beat the egg with a teaspoon of water and brush lightly onto the rugelach. Top each rugelach with flaky sea salt or finely grated parmesan (I prefer the sea salt, my husband prefers parmesan, so I make half of each kind). Bake for 25 minute.