What’s better than rugelach? Chocolate Cherry Almond Rugelach. Crunchy, sweet, tart and chocolatey. I rest my case.
It’s Tu B’Shevat week (February 4th, 2015 to be exact)! You may be thinking, Amy. Am I a bad Jew/wannabe Jew/friend of the Jews??? What the heck is that!!? I thought the next holiday was Purim! I have my boozeface and grogger all ready! Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Purim! Not even close. We’ll get to you, hamantaschen, soon.
Tu B’Shevat is a minor holiday, but a fun one! It’s a celebration of trees, an honoring of the earth we get to live on. It’s the beginning of the spring growing season in Israel. Oh sort of like Jewish Arbor Day? I can get on board with that! Yes, ma’am! A popular way to celebrate is by planting a tree in Israel, or by eating the seven species mentioned in the torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates OR eating dried fruit. That’s where these rugelach come into play!
I originally developed this recipe for Hanukkah, because I loooove coming up with new versions, but today seemed like the perfect day to share with y’all!
Lots of tart dried cherries, crunchy slivered almonds, and chocolate.
Because I think we can all agree chocolate = celebration. Right? And cocoa grows on trees. Trees = Jewish Arbor Day. See what I did there?
Chocolate Cherry Rugelach
Ingredients
For Cookies
- 1/2 cup Imperial Sugar Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter (1 cup) cut into chunks
- 6 oz cold cream cheese cut into chunks
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For Filling
- 4 oz unsalted butter, malted
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped chopped (or walnuts)
- 2 tbsps Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar, plus more for sprinkling. 13 oz can Nutella
- 2 tbsps cocoa powder whisked, for egg wash
- ½ cup slivered or chopped almonds
- ½ cup dried cherries
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Then add cold butter, cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla in a food processor and pulse just until combined. You should have a crumbly dough. Do not overmix.
- (If you don’t have a food processor, let butter and cream cheese come to room temperature. With a stand or hand mixer with beater attachment, cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar just until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Then add in sour cream and vanilla and combine. Lastly, add in flour and mix just until combined. This method will lead to a chewier rugelach vs. the flakier cookie with cold ingredients but both are delicious.)
- Lightly flour a clean surface and dump dough onto the surface. Divide the dough into four equal sized balls (I use a scale) and flatten each into a disk. Dough will be slightly sticky. Wrap each disk in saran wrap and chill for two hours or ideally overnight. It also freezes well for up to 2 months.
- Pre heat oven to 350 F.
- When ready to bake, combine filling ingredients.
- Roll out each ball into a 9-10 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface into a circle, keeping the other balls in the fridge until you are ready for them. Make sure to use enough flour to prevent sticking.
- Brush the circle lightly with melted butter and sprinkle about ¼ of filling onto the circle.
- Cut the circle into 12 triangles like a pizza. Roll up each triangle from the wide end, and secure the tip into the cookie so you have a little spiral. Place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and freeze for 30 minutes to prevent spreading. Repeat with other balls.
- Brush rugelach with egg wash, sprinkle with more sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Cool for 5 minutes on the cooking sheet and then finish cooling on cooling rack.
Notes
