Pumpkin & Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach

Is it ever too early for pumpkin desserts?  Well, our Kelly would have said, "never."   That's exactly what I thought when I made these unique rugelach (nestled in my Raven's plate!...can you tell, I'm an Edgar Allan Poe fan!)

Rugelach is a traditional Jewish pastry found in most cafes and bakeries throughout Israel, as well as the United States.  Some sources believe that both rugelach and the French croissant have a common Viennese ancestor.  The crescent shaped shaped pastry celebrates the lifting of the Turkish siege in the Battle of Vienna in 1683. However, since the croissant didn't develop until the 19th century, it is considered a descendant of this pastry.

The cream cheese (or sometimes sour cream) and butter dough is usually filled with a fruit spread and nuts, however, I've made lots of these delicacies for my Christmas boxes with my favorite raspberry and chocolate filling, so it seems anything goes!

For today's pastries, I chose to add some pumpkin puree to the dough and spread Nutella over the rolled out round for an easy fall treat.

Pumpkin & Chocolate Hazelnut Rugelach

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1- 8oz. pkg. cream cheese (not low-fat!) at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Filling:
Nutella (Chocolate Hazelnut Spread)

Egg Wash--1 egg beaten with a 1/2 tsp water

Cream butter and cream cheese together until fluffy, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.  Add the next four ingredients and mix until combined.  Add the flour and salt and mix just until combined...don't over mix or your dough will be tough!

Divide the dough into four portions and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  Remove one of the disks from the refrigerator and roll out to a 9-inch circle, trimming edges to make a clean circle.

Spread approximately 3 tablespoons of Nutella on the circle, leaving about 1/4"-1/2" from the edges.

Divide the circle into 8-pie shaped pieces.  Roll up from the outer edge to the point of the triangle and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush with the egg wash and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

A wonderful way to welcome Fall; especially with a mug of hot chocolate or cuppa of tea. Enjoy!

One more thing:
Yesterday, I posted on FaceBook a "Rustic Sourdough Bread" I baked and a friend asked for the recipe:

Happily, this is a King Arthur recipe that I will post.  I purchased sour dough starter a week ago and after following the instructions, which comes with the starter to feed it, I was ready to make this quick loaf.

Rustic Sourdough Bread
1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
1 T granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups King Arthur unbleached All Purpose Flour

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Knead until smooth and the dough pulls away from the sides, adding either a bit more water or flour to achieve this.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl to rise, covered with plastic wrap in a warm place, until doubled in size.

Gently divide dough in half.  Shape the dough into two oval loaves, long loaves, or as I did, one big loaf!  Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour.  Towards the end of rising, preheat oven to 425F-degrees with a baking stone in place.

Spray the loaf (loaves) with lukewarm water and make two deep diagonal slashes; a lame or serrated knife works well.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature is between 190-200F-degrees.  Since I made just one big loaf, I lowered the oven temperature to 375F-degrees after 30 minutes and baked the bread another 10 minutes to achieve the correct internal temperature.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing...RESIST!!

The crust is crunchy and the interior is soft and makes wonderful sandwiches.  Sour dough is really one of my favorites and there's so many recipes you can do with your starter--Pizza, waffles, or pancakes to name a few!