Holiday Cookies (3/8) -- Raspberry and Mini Chocolate Chip Rugelach

I have always enjoyed chocolate chip Rugelach bought from the supermarket so I thought it would be a fun adventure to make. They turned out to be easier then I thought and I will definitely be making them again. I must warn you that these are a bit time consuming cookie because you have to let the dough rest for at least 2 hours plus you have to refrigerate the rolled cookies for 30 min before baking. I made the dough on Saturday and then rolled the cookies on Sunday and refrigerated them while I made frosting for some other cookies and the oven was heating up.


Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 4 oz cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling:

• 2/3 cup raspberry jam
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2/3 cup Nestle mini chocolate chips

For the glaze:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp cold water
• 2 tbsp yellow sugar sprinkles

Directions:

To make the dough: 

1. Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes — you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.
2. Put the flour in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. 
3. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds — don’t work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.
4. Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. 
5. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
6. Continue the rest of the recipe after the dough has rested.

To make the filling:

1. Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator, keep it wrapped, set it on the counter while you are making the filling.
2. Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies.
3. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

To shape the cookies:

1. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 11- to 12-inch circle. 
2. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, 
3. Sprinkle over half of the sugar. 
4. Scatter over half of the chocolate pieces. 
5. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.
6. Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges.
7. Starting at the outside of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. 
8. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate for about 30 min. 
9. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Getting ready to bake:

1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. 
3. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
4. Bake the cookies 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden brown. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.