Chocolate Raspberry Walnut Rugelach

Welcome to Day 4 of Christmas Week. This annual event was started in 2012, and is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic. This year we have over 35 bloggers sharing festive sweet recipes for the event. Plus we all chipped in for a huge Amazon Gift Card Giveaway so be sure to enter!

It wouldn’t be the holidays in the Ferraro house without homemade rugelach! Every year, at least 6 dozen are made, usually the more traditional ones and sometimes I get a little creative and try out new flavors (PS..stay tuned for more rugelach flavors coming for the holiday! And if you have any suggestions, please let me know!)

These chocolate raspberry rugelach lean more to the traditional but with a big punch of flavor. Odd, but I always keep a bag full of mixed nuts, sugar and chocolate in the kitchen and use it for all kinds of things…pancakes or waffles, streusel topping and in this case rugelach filling. One of the things I love so much about rugelach is that it’s so versatile and you don’t really need a recipe. Besides for the dough, of course, which if you asked me on the street, I can recite, ingredient by ingredient. But the filling is where you can have total creative control. Add whatever you want, a little of this, a lot of that..the only thing I suggest is so not over fill the rugelach too much. A little goes a long way.

You can see a few videos I made of rugelach with my cherry-pistachio rugelach and the fun video I made with The Nosher. A few tips I always use: use a pizza cutter to cut the rugelach into little triangles and chill the dough before rolling out! Other than that, easy peasy!

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Chocolate Raspberry Wanut Rugelach

Prep Time40 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Author: Samantha Ferraro

Ingredients

Dough

• 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
• 1/2 lb unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c all-purpose flour sifted

Filling

• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 tsp prange zest
• 1/4 c cinnamon sugar mix together sugar+cinnamon
• Egg + water for egg wash

Instructions

• Cream butter and cream cheese in stand mixer with a paddle attachment until creamy. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix well.
• Add flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface and roll into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Next, using a food processor, add the chocolate chips, walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pulse a few times until nuts and chocolate are processed finely, then pour into a bowl and set aside.
• In another bowl, mix together the raspberry preserves with orange zest. Set aside.
• Take one dough-ball out of fridge (leaving others chilled until ready to use) and on a well-floured surface, roll it out using a floured rolling pin. Roll it out to about 9 inches in diameter. *It will feel somewhat hard/stiff in the very beginning, but this is such a beautiful soft dough, once you start working it, it gets easier. Save excess dough to use again.
• Then, take 2 Tb of preserves and spread a thin layer on the dough and then sprinkle 1/4 cup of walnut chocolate mixture lightly pressing down.
• Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut into 8 even triangle and take one of the wedges and roll from the outside-i like a small crescent.
• Once all of them are rolled up, place rugelach on cookie sheet, end-side down and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Recipes from Day 4 of Christmas Week! Please visit all our talented participants:

Almond Roca from Cravings of a Lunatic

Gingerbread Coffee Cake from The Redhead Baker

Eggnog Granola from Cupcakes and Kale Chips

White Chocolate Creme Brulee from Cooking on the Front Burner

Layered Peppermint Brownies from Crumb: A Food Blog

Soft Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies from Food Done Light

Christmas Tea Cookies from Farm Fresh Feasts

Chanukah Gelt Cookies from Mother Would Know

Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies from Food Lust People Love

Rocky Road Fudge by My Catholic Kitchen

Best Sugar Cookies from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Salted Caramel Chocolate Thumbprints from Mind Over Batter

Gingerbread Cookies from Lauren Kelly Nutrition

Habanero Orange Marmalade from Everyday Southwest

Upside Down Sticky Apple Pie from From Gate to Plate

Pumpkin Po’e from Aloha Flavor

Giveaway!

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Christmas Week Amazon Gift Card Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada. Giveaway will run from December 7, 2015 to December 26, 2015. Winners must be 18 years of age. Winners will be notified by email. Winners will be asked a skill testing question.