The Rugelach That Won Over France - Baking Chez Moi

Per Tricia~

I was a bit worried about the difficulty level of this recipe, given 

some of the feedback from our community's P's and Q's this week.

 But I was pleasantly surprised at how the instructions truly did come together, 

thanks to the very detailed "hand holding" that Dorie provides in this recipe. 

getting a square shape to my rolled dough was one of the more challenging parts ~

While she can always be counted on for making you feel as though she is

 right there in the kitchen providing instructions, I thought this recipe was 

a particularly good (and much appreciated) example of this writing trait.   

It was also the reason why when I read her words about "this is 
easier to read than to do", as part of her instructions for rolling
 up the stuffed dough.....I actually got a bit scared :)  Luckily I had 
no problems creating the rolls and even opted out of chilling. 
I simply cut and baked after applying the egg wash and sugar. 

 It all worked like a charm and was far less labor intensive than
 anticipated. And it was well worth it. The cookie is phenomenal and 
was a huge hit in my house. It is easy to see how it "won over France". 
The dough is simply out of this world and we thoroughly enjoyed
 the filling's mixture of pecan, coconut, cherry and chocolate. 

The aroma alone is reason enough to make this cookie but the taste

 is simply out of this world. This may be my new favorite and will 

absolutely be gracing the holiday dessert table this season. 

Per Nana~

When I first read this recipe I knew it would be good. 
The combination of butter and cream cheese with a bit of flour made
 a wonderful dough that rolled out well after chilling it for two hours. 

The filling of coconut, chocolate, pecans and dried fruit only made it
 better. In my case I used golden raisins instead of cherries because that 
is what was on hand. Unfortunately, when I removed the rolls from the
 freezer after one hour they were so hard I could not cut them. 

They cracked and the filling was falling out. I did not understand how to 
arrange them on the cookie sheet "seam side down". I tried standing them
 up but they collapsed. Fortunately I only baked one tray that way and after seeing 
how that turned out I laid the rest of the slices down and had no trouble. 

I was amazed that the dough turned out so flaky. It looked like puff pastry. 
I plan to do these again before Christmas but I think if I chill the dough in the 
refrigerator it might be easier to slice, or perhaps I will make them in the
 traditional crescent shape. Not matter the shape of these cookies,
 they were so tasty we could not stop eating them. 

 Happy French Friday ~
This marks another recipe completed as we cook along with the "Tuesdays with Dorie" online group.  Please note that we do not post the recipes, per the group rules, but we do encourage others to RUN out and buy their own copy of Dorie Greenspan's "Baking Chez Moi".  Better yet, buy the book and join the group ! www.TuesdaysWithDorie.wordpress.com