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17 Mar 2006
Cocoa Nib Currant Rugelach

Ingredients

for the pastry

  • 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
  • One 8 oz. package cream cheese (chilled and cut into pieces)

for the filling

  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 C packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 C roasted cocoa nibs
  • 1/2 C dried currants (soaked briefly in boiling water, and then drained and patted dry)


Directions

  1. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.

  2. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of bread crumbs.

  3. Add the cream cheese and process until the dough begins to clump together, about 30 seconds. (I sometimes cheat and just make this in my stand mixer. Doesn’t seem to do any harm.)

  4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and slam it to get out the air bubbles, then divide it into 4 pieces. Press each piece into a flat patty about 4″ in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. You can leave it in the fridge overnight if you like.

  5. When the dough has chilled and you’re ready to procede, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpat.

  6. Stir all filling ingredients together in a bowl.

Working with one dough patty at a time:

  1. Roll it out between two pieces of wax paper into a 12″ diameter circle that’s about 1/8″ thick (erring on the side of too thin). I find that it helps to peel the dough off the wax paper and flip it over from time to time when rolling it out.

  2. When it’s ready, 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 (to loosen the dough’s attachment to the wax paper).

  3. Sprinkle a quarter of the filling over the dough. Place a fresh, non-sticky piece of wax paper over it, and gently roll over the filling with a rolling pin to press it into the dough. Remove the top layer of wax paper.

  4. Cut the dough into 12 equal wedges like a pie. Roll up each wedge, starting at the wide end and working towards the narrow point, and place them on the cookie sheets with the point underneath to keep it from unrolling. They don’t need to be too far apart, as they won’t expand much.

  5. 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. Cool on wire racks.


Notes

From Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate by Alice Medrich.