Chocolate Walnut Rugelach with Cinnamon and Brown Sugar

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Add the cold butter in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips, until coarse crumbs form.

   💡The butter must stay cold: butter that melts in your hands gives a hard dough instead of a crumbly one. Work quickly, and if the dough warms up, put it back in the fridge.
3. 3
   Add the cream cheese and quickly bring together with your hands, without kneading, just until the dough comes together.

   💡Knead as little as possible: long kneading develops gluten, and the dough comes out tough and shrinks in the oven.
4. 4
   Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 120 minutes.

   ⚙ Wrapping and Chilling the DoughPlastic wrapRefrigerator

   💡Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.

For the Pastry Filling

1. 5
   Mix the chocolate spread, sugar and cinnamon into a smooth paste.

   💡Spread the filling at room temperature: too warm, it runs off the dough as you roll; too cold, it's hard and tears the dough.

To assemble

1. 6
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 7
   Divide the dough into 4 balls and roll each ball into a circle thin.

   ⚙ Dividing into Balls and RollingRolling pin

   💡Dough that springs back needs rest: cover the balls for 10 minutes and the gluten relaxes.
3. 8
   Spread the filling in a thin layer on each round and sprinkle the walnuts over it.
4. 9
   Cut each round into 8 triangles, and roll up each triangle from the wide base to the tip.

   Knife
5. 10
   Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spaced apart.

   Baking panParchment paper
6. 11
   Bake 20–25 minutes, until the dough is golden.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.