Ingredients:
For the dough:
8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup (heaping) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaping teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
For the filling:
6 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 - 1 cup apricot preserves
For the top:
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk for egg wash
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
Cream the cream cheese and the butter with an electric mixing bowl with the paddle attachment until light. Add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, the salt, and the vanilla. With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the flour and mix until the ingredients are just combined. Flour a large wooden cutting board and roll the dough into a ball on this board. Cut the ball into four quarters and wrap and refrigerate each piece in plastic for at least one hour.
While the dough is cooling, make the filling. Combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and the almonds in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Like a baking sheet with parchment paper. Re-flour the large wooden cutting board. Take the 4 balls of dough out of the fridge one at a time, as needed. Keep the dough you are not using in the fridge to keep it cool because it is easier to work with colder dough. Roll each ball into about a 9-inch circle (one at a time) and spread each circle with approximately 2 - 4 tablespoons of apricot preserves, depending on how sweet you like your rugelach. The more preserves you use, the moister and sweeter they will be, but be warned, the preserves may run and cause the rugelach to stick. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the filling over the preserves and lightly press the filling into the dough. Cut the circle into 12 equal wedges by cutting it into quarters, and then cutting each quarter into thirds. Roll each of the 12 wedges by starting from the wide outer edge. Once rolled, place the cookies with the points tucked under on the bottom on the baking sheet that you lined with parchment paper. Put the baking sheet with the cookies into the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes. While they are chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the egg wash mixture and the cinnamon sugar mixture. After 30 minutes of cooling in the fridge, brush each cookie with the egg wash and sprinkle the combined mixture of 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over all of the cookies. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, checking the cookies to make sure they do not burn. Cookies are done when they are lightly browned on the top. Immediately remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to let them cool. Once they are cool, store them in a plastic tupper ware contained to keep them fresh. You will notice in my picture the rugelach are upside down in the plastic container to keep them from sticking. Most importantly, enjoy!!!!!!! These are delicious and will go fast! I had to make this recipe twice because the first batch was eaten before Christmas!
***Note - you will also see in the picture that some of the rugelach were made with raspberry preserves and chocolate chips. You can change the fillings as you wish!
***Note - this recipe is based on Ina Garten's rugelach recipe. Thank you Ina!!
