Recipe: Apricot or Chocolate Filled Rugelach

APRICOT OR CHOCOLATE FILLED RUGELACH
Source: Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan
Makes 50 rugelach

FOR THE DOUGH:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar
FOR THE APRICOT FILLING:
1 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons cake crumbs (optional)
3/4 cup walnuts, broken up
FOR THE CHOCOLATE FILLING:
1 cup shaved bittersweet chocolate (about 8 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/180C/Gas4. Grease cookie sheets.

Combine the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, salt, and lemon juice, and vanilla in a bowl, add the flour and using an electric mixer, combine all ingredients until a very smooth and soft dough has formed. (Alternately use a food processor to do this and pulse until you have a soft dough.)

Chill the dough for at leats 60 minutes in the fridge.

Mix the ingredients for either of the two fillings, or half the ingredients and make both.

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into four portions. Shape each into a ball and roll them into circles of approx 1/8-inch thickness.

Divide the filling between the circles and spread it out. Cut into pizza-wedge shapes that are approximately one inch wide at the outside.

Carefully roll them up, starting from the wide side (outside of the circle)towards the center. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet for approximately 25 minutes or until golden.

Alternative Shape:
Instead of the round shapes, you can roll out your dough into four 1/4-inch thick rectangles, spread with filling, roll jelly-roll style from wide end and cut it into 1/2 inch slices. Place them flat on a cookie sheet, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar and bake as above.