Almond and apricot rugelach

I realize it's a little early to be perusing Christmas cookbooks, but I couldn't help myself! We're coming into the best time of year for baking--bundle-up weather, perfect for a house warmed by baked goodies. I stumbled across this recipe for this Jewish pastry, which is, in some traditions, eaten during Hanukkah. I found the idea of making dough with cream cheese an interesting prospect, plus a healthy dose of jam and almonds don't hurt either.

Recipe

from Williams-Sonoma ChristmasMakes 32 pastries 4 oz natural cream cheese, room temperature1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour1/4 cup granulated sugar2 tsp fresh lemon juicegrated zest of 1/2 lemon1/2 tsp almond extractpinch of fine sea salt1/2 cup apricot jam3/4 cup slivered almonds, finely chopped1 large egg, beatenIcing sugar, for dustingTo make dough, in a food processor, combine the cream cheese, butter, flour, sugar, lemon zest, juice, extract and salt and pulse until the dough starts to pull away from the bowl. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Divide into 4 pieces and flatten each into a disk. Stack the disks in a zippered plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disk into a round about 8" in diameter and 1/8" thick. Spread evenly with 2 tablespoons of the jam, then sprinkle evenly with 1/4th of the almonds. Cut the round into 8 wedges. Starting at the wide end, roll each wedge toward the point. Transfer the pastries, point sides up, to the baking sheets, spacing them about 2" apart. Repeat to use the remaining dough and filling. Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let pastries cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks. Dust very lightly with icing sugar and let cool completely.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: I had cream cheese on hand, so I decided forego tracking down natural cream cheese (which apparently is cream cheese without added stabilizers or gums). I also realized that I put in 2 tbsp of lemon juice as opposed to 2 tsp.At first, I was a little concerned that my first round looked a little sad and small. David suggested I try rolling the rounds a little thinner and larger, so my next batch had slightly larger crescents, which seemed to hold up better. I didn't have any pre-conceived notions about what they would taste like. I was pleasantly surprised at first taste--slightly sweet with a nice crunchiness from the almonds. David noted they felt almost like a cookie. I'll have to figure out a way to prevent jam leakage out the ends of some of them (perhaps rolling them even tighter, or smearing on a little less jam). The leakage doesn't affect the taste, but its remnants do blacken as the pastries bake, which doesn't look very nice. Appearances aside, the rugelach made for a sweet little dessert and an interesting change of pace.