Recipe - Rugalahs

1 pound Unsalted butter, cut into 1
inch cubes
4 cup Flour
1 pound Cream cheese
1 cup Raspberry or apricot jam
1 One fourth cup Packed brown sugar
3 tablespoon Cinnamon
2 tablespoon Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup Finely chopped hazelnuts or
walnuts
1 Egg
One half teaspoon Salt
One half cup Coarse sugar or finely
chopped nuts

Although this recipe can be halves, it's worth making mounds of these melt
in your mouth cinnamon crescents, since they freeze perfectly and thaw
quickly. Rugalahs can be frozen either baked or unbaked. To bake frozen
rugalahs, allow an extra five minutes cooking time.

In large bowl, using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter into flour
until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Cut in cream cheese until
dough feels moist. Knead dough until you can gather into large ball.
Divided into 8 pieces. Wrap individually and refrigerate at least 1 hour or
overnight. (Let dough stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before
rolling) In medium bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. Stir in
hazelnuts. Set aside until ready to use. On lightly floured surface, roll
each piece of dough into circle 10 inches in diameter. Spread about 2 tbsp
jam over each circle; sprinkle with some brown sugar mixture. Cut circle
into 1012 equal wedges. Roll up each one from outside, curving slightly to
form crescent. Place about 2 inches apart on greased or parchment lined
baking sheet. Repeat with remaining peices of dough. Beat together egg and
salt and brush it onto each cookie. Sprinkle with coarse sugar or nuts.
Bake in 350 F oven for 2025 minutes or until golden. Makes 96 crescents.

Origin: Canadian Living, December 1987. Shared by: Sharon Stevens

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini