Sedition! Sedition!

Who must know the way to make a proper rugelach?

Lovelies! I am about embark on an over-hill, over-I81 journey to deliver my daughter back to college before the 83 feet of snow (“…or possibly less, don’t know, but please stay tuned to our TV station 24/7 in case we change the weather prediction dramatically.”) lands on her university’s corner of Virginia.

But momma didn’t want to leave you without a little something to bake and eat, so you don’t starve while I’m away this weekend. I baked these along with the amazing polymath known as Elliott Williams on the latest episode of The Secret Life of Cookies (which will hit the airwaves later Saturday afternoon). Elliott’s also known as one of CNN’s legal analysts and a principal at The Raben Group. And: He’s a first-class baker.

We made peach and pecan rugelach with a hit of ginger in them. Then I messed around with the second round of dough, and made raspberry-chocolate rugelach (just substitute raspberry jam, and diced-up chocolate). Feel free to make up your own combinations. Please remember many rugelach have nuts and currants in them, but the weirdos in my family don’t tend to go for that.

This is an unsweetened version of rugelach dough. It’s kind of old-fashioned that way. It also means you shouldn’t be appalled that you’ll add jam, and a sprinkling of sugar and spice inside the cookie. (It also means it’s a very adaptable dough and you can do all manner of things with it. I’ll offer up some more options when I’m not leaping out the door to beat the storm.)

RUGELACH

Makes about 2 ½ dozen.

What You’ll Need

For the dough:

4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces

4 ounces (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

Note: while the cream cheese and butter should be cold, you should still plan to take them out of the fridge about 15 minutes before baking so they aren’t hard like rocks.

For the filling:

¼ cups toasted pecans, chopped (how to toast pecans below)

2/3 cup nice quality peach jam

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

(You could also add chopped chocolate or currants or dried cranberries, chopped up, if you’re given to that sort of excess. Lol)

For the glaze:

1 large egg

A splash of water

Sugar for decorating (demerara, or a coarse sugar would be nice, but don’t drive yourself crazy)

NB: The dough must be made at least 2 hours in advance. It needs to chill, or you will cry when it comes time to roll it out.

What You’ll Do:

1. Using a food processor: Put the flour and salt in the food processor first, then sprinkle over the cream cheese and butter. Pulse 10 to 12 times; scrape down the bowl, repeat pulsing a few times, scraping down sides until the dough is in large lumps. Do not over mix. You don’t want all the dough wrapped around the blade, as it will be over-mixed and won’t end up as lovely and flaky as you want it to.

2. Divide the dough into two parts, shape each into a disk and wrap them individually. Let them sit in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. (You can also freeze, well-wrapped, and defrost in refrigerator before using.)

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before you plan to roll it out. While it’s sitting on the counter, patiently waiting to turn into rugelach, give the peach jam a 30-second blast in the microwave to get it warm and thin it. Give it a good stir before proceeding. Mix the sugar and ground ginger together.

5. Sprinkle your pastry board or clean counter lightly with flour. Unwrap one of the disks of dough and roll it into a circle about 10- to 11-inches wide. When rolling a circle remember this technique: Roll from the center, outwards and stop a half-inch from the edge. Turn the dough a quarter turn and repeat until it’s the diameter you want. If it starts to stick, sprinkle some flour underneath.

6. Spread the dough with a thin layer of half the jam. Sprinkle half the nuts over, then half the sugar-ginger mixture. Cut the dough into quarters and then cut each quarter into two. You should now have 8 triangles. (You can make them smaller if you wish. Who am I to stop you?)

7. Starting at the bottom of the triangle, roll the dough up gently. Be sure to tuck the tiny point underneath the cookie. Repeat. Then repeat with the remaining disk of dough. Notice how much better you’ve gotten with your rolling up? Good, right? Begin to daydream about opening a bakery that features 25 different flavors of rugelach, both sweet and savory. Then remember how much hard work and how many long hours it takes to run a bakery and focus instead on your Wordle skills. (Just please don’t feel compelled to share your results.)

8. Mix the egg and water together. Lightly brush the mixture onto the cookies and sprinkle with the crunchy sugar.

9. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (it all depends on your oven), until the cookies are puffed and light golden brown. To ensure even baking: Rearrange the pans back to front and top to bottom in the oven once during cooking.

10. Let rugelach cool on a rack. Do not eat while molten or you will be sad.

11. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you think they look a little ugly. My grandmother believed that a sprinkling of powdered sugar helped everything and she was right. Of course. She was my grandma!

How to toast pecans: Preheat an oven or toaster oven to 325 degrees. Lay the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the begin to begin to turn slightly darker in color…They will also begin to smell delicious. They can go for perfect to uh-oh in a few minutes. This is not the time to get stuck into a game of Wordle, no matter how good you think you are. Cool before using.

What are your favorite parts of the sedition indictment? What is your favorite combination in a rugelach? Did you like your first year of college? I am full of questions this week. I hope you have answers. Please leave them below.