#51_RUGELACH COOKIES

RUGELACH, RUGALACH OR BUTTER HORN COOKIES

These cookies resemble croissants, and the varieties of them are so endless. Some people prefer to fill them with nuts and jams, or with spices, or with chocolate or veggies. I prefer my rugalach with just raspberry jam fillings, very simple, not-so-sweet dessert.

Chilling the dough for hours is one of the keys to sucessful RUGALACH

After chilling the dough for at least 1 hour, roll it out on a floured surface to a pie crust thinness and spread with whatever fillings you want on it. In my case, I like plain raspberry or strawberry preserves.

With a pizza cutter, aaarg!!! ugh!!! I can't find my pizza cutter!!. I just used a knife, cut the dough out to wedges and roll them up like croissants.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

I NEED TO DELIVER SOME COOKIES BEFORE IT WILL GET SO DARK!!!

12-23-08

RECIPE:

1 cup butter, softened at room temperature

1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar mix with

2 tsps. ground cinnamnon

FILLINGS OPTIONS:

Walnuts with brown sugar and cinnamon, any of your favorite fruit jams or preserves, chocolate chips or chopped chocolate candy bars, M&M chocolates or mix and match.

PROCEDURE:

1) Cream butter, cream cheese and the 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy

2) Sift in the flour and mix thoroughly, this is a very soft dough.

3) Divide the dough into 4 equal balls and flatten each one to form disks.

4) Wrap each disk in plastic wraps and refrigerate for at least 2 hours

5) When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

6) Working with one disk of dough at a time, roll out thinly (like pie crust thin) on a floured surface into an 8-inch circle

7) Spread whatever filling you prefer on the rolled out dough leaving about an inch border.

8) With a pizza cutter or a sharp knife slice the dough into quarters, and then each quarter into 3 or 4 sections, making 12 to 16 triangles.

9) Starting from the wider side of the triangle, roll up to form spirals; you can curve them into crescents if you prefer

10) Continue with the other disks of dough

11) Arrange the rolled up dough on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets making sure the points are tucked under

12) Sprinkle lightly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture

13) Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown

14) Cool on wire racks