For as long as I have lived outside of New York City (which is where I grew up), whenever anyone in my family is heading up for a visit, they ask if I would like them to bring anything from the City for us. We usually ask for some New York bagels and sliced smoked salmon.

One time when my parents were coming up for a visit, among numerous items on a long list, Hank wanted me to ask them to bring some rugelach. When they arrived, I started unpacking the food, and there was a large plastic bag full of greens. My mother thought I had said arugula! She told me she was quite perplexed, thinking I probably could get arugula here – which I can – but figured I must have had my reasons.

The upshot is that I then had to learn to make rugelach myself! It’s not a terribly difficult recipe, but rolling out the dough and filling it and rolling up the pieces can get messy, so it is a bit of work.

Pretty much every recipe I’ve seen for the dough has the same proportions: 2 cups of flour to 8 ounces of cream cheese and 8 ounces of butter. Then you can play around with the filling! Traditional fillings include chocolate, apricot, and cinnamon-walnut. But I’ve seen many variations, including a fluffernutter version from Michael Solomonov (never made that one) and savory versions, such as squash and Parmesan.

Pretty much every time I make them I use 4 different fillings, and I almost always come up with something new. Everyone has their favorites, but they’re all good!

Rugelach

Makes 64

2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
Filling(s) of choice – see suggestions below

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on low-medium speed until well combined. Add the flour and salt mixture and mix at low speed until a dough forms. You can increase the speed one notch if necessary. It’s fine if all the dough does not form one single ball.

Empty the dough from the bowl of the stand mixer onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Make the dough into a single ball and divide evenly into four equal portions. (If you have a kitchen scale, you may want to use it here.) Form each of the four portions into a thick disk, and try to roll each on its edge a bit to prevent cracks. Wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or even overnight.

Once the dough is fully chilled, work with one disk at a time. (It’s easier to work with the dough cold, so I don’t like to preheat the oven until I have most of the rugelach formed.) On a well-floured work surface, roll out one disk of the dough to a 12-inch circle. I like to use my King Arthur rolling mat for this. Don’t worry if the edges are a bit ragged in places. Spread or sprinkle the filling on top, leaving a border around the edge. (See below for suggestions.) Cut the disk into 16 wedges. I usually cut it into four quadrants first, and then cut each quadrant into four. Starting from the outside roll up each segment, one at a time, into a little crescent. Place onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan. You will need two half sheet pans for this entire recipe, so if you only have one, you will need to do this in two stages. Continue with the remaining segments, and then with the remaining disks. Before rolling the last disk segments into crescents, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Place the sheet pans in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden brown. Depending on your oven, you may need to check halfway through and swap or rotate the pans. Cool on the pans.

Fillings – amounts are for each disk – you can use the same filling for all four or several different one – it matters not. I usually do four different ones!

Jam – about ¼ cup per disk, spread thinly (easiest with an offset spatula); I’m especially fond of the blueberry jam I make every summer in Maine
Jam + chopped nuts – the same ¼ cup of jam as above, then scatter 2-3 Tablespoons of chopped nuts; I once found a pear jam and used that with almonds
Mini chocolate chips – ⅓-½ cup, scattered over the dough
Cinnamon-Walnut-Raisin – Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough, then scatter 1-2 Tablespoons of chopped walnuts and 1-2 Tablespoons chopped raisins
Chocolate filling (this will make more than you need, but the remainder can be frozen and used another time) – Melt 2 ounces of semisweet chocolate with ½ stick of unsalted butter. Mix in a scant ¼ cup of confectioners sugar and 2½ Tablespoons of cocoa powder; spread thinly (easiest with an offset spatula)

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Rugelach