Dark Chocolate & Almond Rugelach

If any cookie got the shaft in the naming department, it would definitely be these completely underrated cookies... Rugelach. These cookies are so damn good and actually so darn easy to put together. They are buttery, rich and melt-in-your-mouth. The dough is more like a pastry than a traditionall cookie dough and is a delight to work with. Cream cheese makes them taste incredible but it also lends a heap of dense protein which makes the dough really pliable and workable. It should roll out smoothly if it is well rested.

To begin with the pastry dough, I really wasn't kidding about the buttery part or the resting time. This dough is very rich in fat with about 100g each of butter and cream cheese to just 142g (or 1 cup) of flour.

There is no added liquid or egg in this recipe either, so the only moisture available to the flour is the water present in the cream cheese. Resist the temptation to add more flour if the dough feels too soft. It will hydrate and feel more pliable once chilled and rested. If you add too much flour, the dough will be crumbly and crack all crazy when you try to roll it. There's nothing more annoying than cracking pastry. We've all been there and there is only so much patchwork one can put up with. Plus, you don't have time for that... you need to decorate the Christmas tree, put out the snow globes and dig up the broken (but precious) nutcrackers.

Another key point is the order of addition of the fats. Butter gets blended in first, then the cream cheese. No cheating! Cold butter is firmer or more solid and has a higher fat content so it will first coat the flour and remain as visible pieces to make a crumbly mixture. The cream cheese, when added next, is softer and more moist so it will blend in more readily and its water content will bring the dough together. If we were to blend in the cream cheese with the butter at the beginning, there is more chance of encouraging gluten development (because water + flour = gluten) and more risk of a tougher-textured dough.

The filling is pure heaven! Chunks and bits of dark chocolate with brown sugar, toasted almonds and cinnamon. Just mix all of these A-list ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle them all over the rolled out dough. Try your best to roll it out into a circle, but otherwise, a rough circle with some wonky edges won't matter. Cut the dough like you would slice a pizza, and if you have a pizza cutter then here's your chance to exercise it. Now roll up each slice or wedge starting from the outside (like the crust part of the pizza) towards the center. Curl the ends of each rolled piece of dough to form a crescent and place them on baking trays lined with parchment paper.

They will spread only slightly so you don't have to leave so much space between each one. Brush them with beaten egg for gloss, give them a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and even some sliced almonds if you care to before baking. The pastry will turn so golden brown and some of the sugar from the filling will bubble up and caramelize. It's like bitting into the crispy edge of a waffle every time!