I had intended to make rugulach. But then last night, just before I rolled up the rolls here, I found myself uninspired and frankly, a bit lazy. And I couldn’t find my ruler — and if you know me, I can’t cut a straight line if I tried. So, instead, I rolled the rugulach dough into logs, with the jam spread in the inside, and baked these Spiced Peach Swirl Cookies up this morning. Turned out it was a pretty nice compromise.
Ingredients
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup peach jam
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup large grain sugar (I used demerara) mixed with1 tablspoon cinnamon
Directions
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the bowl and paddle. With the mixer on low, add the salt, vanilla and flour, mixing until a smooth dough forms. Turn dough out onto a work surface dusted with flour and knead briefly to form a ball. Divide the dough into three equal portions and wrap each in plastic or waxed paper. Flatten each piece of dough into a square and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.
Combine peach jam and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir well to combine. If your peach jam is chunky, you might want to blend it until smooth with a blender or food processor.
Remove one piece of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle. Trim the rough edges of the dough so the sides are straight, and so the piece of dough measures 12 inches by 4 inches. Spread 1/3 of the peach jam on the surface, leaving a 1/2 inch boarder on the side facing away from you. Roll the dough up, jelly roll style, and wrap in a piece of foil. Return to the fridge for another 2-4 hours. Repeat with other two pieces of dough.
Heat oven to 400F. Line baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper. Take one roll of dough from the fridge and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with a bit of the cinnamon sugar. Bake one sheet at a time until lightly browned on the bottoms and puffed, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
