Recipe - Cinnamon-Nut-Raisin Crescents (Rugelach)

CREAM CHEESE DOUGH
8 ounce Cream cheese (bartype, not
soft type)
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted
Butter
2 cup Allpurpose flour
One fourth teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Sour cream
1 teaspoon Water, if needed

FILLING
One half cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon
1 cup Walnuts, finely chopped
One half cup Dark raisins, chopped

Cut cream cheese into tablespoonsize pieces and let soften at room
temperature. Cut butter into small pieces of about One half tbsp. and keep cold
until ready to use.

In a food processor, combine flour, salt and butter. Process with on/off
turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cream cheese and sour cream,
distributing them fairly evenly over mixture. Process with on/off turns
until dough just holds together. Add 1 teaspoon water if necessary.

Wrap dough, press into a ball, and flatten to a disc. Refrigerate 4 hours
or up to 2 days. Lightly butter 2 or 3 baking sheets. Mix sugar and for
filling.

Divide dough into 4 pieces. Press One fourth of dough to a round, then flatten it.
Roll it to a 9inch circle about 1/8thick. Sprinkle One fourth of sugarcinnamon
mixture (about 2 tbsp.) all over circle, then sprinkle One fourth of nuts and 1/4
of raisins around outer edge of circle. Press with rolling pin so they
adhere to dough.

Using a heavy knife, cut circle in 12 wedges, making each cut with a sharp
movement of heel of knife. Roll up dough tightly from wide end to point; be
sure filling is enclosed, since raisins can burn if exposed. Repeat process
with other 3 piece of dough.

Put cookies on baking sheets, with points of triangles facing down, spacing
them about 1 inch apart. Refrigerate while shaping more cookies.

Refrigerate all at least 20 minutes before baking. (unbaked cookies can be
frozen).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies 22 to 25 minutes, or until light
golden. Cool on racks.

Yields: 48 small cookies Source: Faye Levy's International Jewish Cookbook,
Warner Books, calls for walnuts. Pecans may be substituted. MM formatted by
Mary Wilson, BWVB02B.
Posted to JEWISHFOOD digest V96 #097

From: Nancy Berry nlberry@prodigy.net

Date: Sat, 07 Dec 1996 09:39:00 0800