2012 Is Going to ROCK!!

 

HAPPY 2012! I am going to make 2012 a really good year. I feel 2011 was a year of transition, and I'm going to ROCK 2012!!! How about you? Here are a few things I want to accomplish in the current year, blog more, stick to an exercise plan, find my career, work on my Stella and Dot business and find more time for family and friends.
The week between Christmas and New Years, my work was closed. So I had a full week to do what ever! And of course it went by way too fast and I didn't really get to do the things I wanted. I had this grand plan to bake, cook, knit, workout, hang out with friends, organize, and loaf...Well, I did a lot of loafing around and some baking!
I was happy that I did get to bake rugelach from Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet.

Here is the recipe that I used for these delicious, flaky, sweet but not, incredible treats!

The recipe says it will make 48 but if you have a 7 month old puppy who finds dough in your fridge, the recipe will really only make about 30!!
For the pastry:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, each stick cut into 8 pieces One 8-ounce package cream cheese, chilled, cut into 8 pieces

For the filling:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown or golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup roasted cocoa nibs, finely chopped into small bits. (I actaully did not chop the nibs up)
1/2 cup dried currants

To make the pastry: Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of bread crumbs. Add the cream cheese and process until the dough begins to clump together, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into 4 pieces. Press each piece into a flat patty about 4 inches in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. LIne two cookie sheets with parchment or wax paper or aluminum foil.

To make the filling: Mix the sugars, cinnamon, nibs and currants together in a medium bowl.

Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out between two pieces of wax paper into a 12-inch circle a scant 1/8 inch thick. Peel off the top sheet of wax paper and place the paper on a counter or cutting board. Flip the dough onto the paper and peel off the second sheet. Sprinkle a quarter of the filling over the dough. Gently roll over the filling with a rolling pin to press it into the dough. Cut the dough into 12 equal wedges like a pie. Starting at the wide end of one wedge, roll it up and place it, with the dough point underneath to prevent it from unrolling, on one of the cookie sheets. Repeat with the remaining wedges, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart.

Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (If at any time the dough becomes too soft to roll, return it to the refrigerator to firm up.)

Bake, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time, for about 25 minutes, or until light golden brown at the edges. Set the sheets on racks to cool completely. (The rugelach are best on the day they are baked, but they can be stored, airtight, for about 5 days.)