Raspberry Rugelach

YIELDS: 5 dozen

COOK TIME: 35 Min

There's something extra-special about these rugelach cookies - just wait till you get a taste! Our Raspberry Rugelach are made from a delicious combination of cinnamon-sugar, walnuts, raspberry jam, and...ice cream! They're going to jump for joy when you bring these out.

What You'll Need

1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
2/3 cup raspberry jam
About 1 cup raisins

What to Do

In a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour. Add the softened ice cream and work it into the mixture with your hands. (Add more flour if necessary to make the dough easier to handle.) Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight (it will become hard).
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, combine sugar, nuts, and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mixture onto a clean, smooth surface. Separate dough into 5 equal pieces. Place one piece of dough on the sugar-nut mixture and refrigerate remaining pieces of dough until ready to use. Roll out dough with a lightly floured rolling pin to form a circle 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Spread 2 tablespoons jam and 3 tablespoons raisins over the rolled dough, then cut dough into 12 to 14 small wedges. Starting at wide end, roll up dough and place seam-side down on baking sheet.
Repeat entire process, placing more sugar-nut mixture on the smooth surface each time before rolling out dough.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the bottoms turn golden. Let cool, then serve or store in an airtight container.

Notes

You can leave out the raisins if you prefer, but the flavor and texture are best with them.
These classic cookies are part of our 2016 Christmas Cookie Countdown.