Nutella Rugelach (ATK)

• servings: 8 (Makes 32 cookies)
• total time: 1¾ h, + 1 h 20min chill

Ingredients

1½ cups (7½2 ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon table salt

6 ounces (170 grams) cream cheese, cut into 3 pieces and chilled

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12-inch pieces and chilled

¼ cup sour cream

⅔ cup Nutella, divided

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon demerara sugar

Directions

Process flour, granulated sugar, and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. Add cream cheese and pulse until large, irregularly sized chunks of cream

cheese form with some small pieces interspersed throughout, about 5 pulses. Scatter butter over top and pulse until butter is size of large peas, 5 to 7 pulses.

Add sour cream and process until dough forms little clumps that hold together when pinched with your fingers (dough will look crumbly), about 10 seconds.

Transfer dough to clean counter and knead briefly until dough just comes together, about 3 turns. Divide dough in half (each piece should weigh about 11 ounces or 312 grams) and form each piece into 4-inch disk. Wrap disks individually with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll 1 dough disk into 12- inch circle on lightly floured counter. Using offset spatula, spread ⅓ cup Nutella evenly over entire surface of circle. Using pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut through center of circle to form 16 equal wedges. Starting at wide edge of each wedge, roll dough toward point and transfer to prepared sheet, seam side down.

Wipe counter clean, dust counter with

additional flour, and repeat with remaining dough disk and remaining ⅓ cup Nutella. Arrange rugelach in 8 rows of four on sheet.

Working with few rugelach at a time, brush tops with egg wash, then sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheet, about 20 minutes. Serve.

Notes

Before You Begin

* The demerara sugar adds a nice crunch to these rugelach, but they are still great without it. If you have packets of Sugar in the Raw at home, you can use those in place of the demerara. When brushing the rugelach with the egg wash, brush only a few cookies at a time and then sprinkle them with the demerara sugar immediately. If you brush the egg wash onto all the rugelach at once, it will begin to dry by the time you get to the last rugelach, and the sugar won't stick.

CINNAMON-WALNUT RUGELACH

Omit Nutella. Pulse ½ cup walnuts, ½ cup packed brown sugar, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon table salt in food processor until hnely ground, about 20 pulses. Sprinkle half of filling over each dough circle.

JAM RUGELACH

Substitute raspberry or apricot jam for Nutella. (If jam contains large chunks of fruit, process jam in food processor to smooth, spreadable consistency before using.) Be sure to check for doneness at 30 minutes; jam tends to accelerate browning on bottom of rugelach.

Cooks country December / January 2021 in book 2010