Pumpkin Rugelach

Happy Thanksgivukkah! I couldn't resist making at least one merged Thanksgiving & Hanukkah treat this year. After all, they say these two holidays won't intermingle again for another 79,000 years, so it's now or never (at least for me). I like to think that in 79,000 years people will no longer eat because they'll have evolved to be more like plants and simply photosynthesize. It just seems so much more elegant. So enjoy some rugelach while you still have a mouth.

 PUMPKIN RUGELACH
Yield: 2 dozen

Dough:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Pumpkin Filling:

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup fine maple sugar or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Optional:

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk (egg wash)
2 tablespoons raw sugar

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1.      Dough: Combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl until well blended. Stir in vanilla, sugar and salt. Stir in flour to create a soft dough. Remove dough from bowl, form into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 1 hour.

2.      Pumpkin Filling: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine pumpkin, butter, maple sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon; stir occasionally until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, or until mixture thickens and water has evaporated. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and allow to cool completely before using.

3.      Place half the dough on a floured surface and roll out into a 9-inch round. Spoon half of pumpkin mixture onto center of dough. Use an offset spatula or back of a spoon to spread mixture out evenly toward edge. Sprinkle with half the chopped walnuts and about 2 tablespoons maple sugar or brown sugar. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the round into 4 wedges, then cut each wedge into 3 wedges to create a total of 12 wedges.

4.      Preheat oven to 350º F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silplat mats.

5.      Starting from wide end, roll each wedge into a crescent. Place "point down" on lined baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate rugelach for 30 minutes.

6.      Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.

7.      Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly browned, turning halfway though. Cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

slightly adapted from shawnsplate.com

pumpkin, butter, sugar and spices

pumpkin mixture thickened

pumpkin mixture spread on dough circle
and sprinkled with walnuts and sugar

I forgot to take photos of making the dough, but clearly I did.

dough cut into triangles

rolled into crescents

I didn't do the egg wash or sprinkle with
raw sugar. It looks pretty, but isn't necessary
if you don't have time (which I didn't).

I've been so ridiculously busy lately that I only managed to take one photo of the baked final product (at the top of the page). I made these last week and froze them, so I could go to the basement, get them out of the freezer and do a rugelach photo shoot, but that's just not going to happen.
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