Funfetti Marzipan Rugelach

Hello from the sky! I’m currently sitting on a plane to Utah watching The Great Gatsby, munching on pretzels and enjoying my temporary freedom from schoolwork.

This school year is going by so quickly and so slowly all at the same time. It’s been quite the whirlwind. I’ve been a busy bee what with all of the work and after-school commitments that come with junior year, so I’m very thankful for the chance to unwind and relax for two weeks while we’re on our winter break.

We’ll be hitting the slopes for the next few days before coming back to the city for the holidays. While I hate the cold of December and January, I love all of the wintry things that become ubiquitous this time of year, from the fires to the peppermint to the hot chocolate. And, of course, the cookies.

Now let’s talk about these rugelach. A few weeks back I signed up for Food52’s wonderful holiday swap. The premise is this: pack up a bunch of fun things and ship them to your giftee, then recieve a box of your own. I was beyond excited about this because I love assembling and giving gifts, especially when those gifts include lots of homemade treats and local provisions. The box I sent to my giftee in Michigan consisted of a Brooklyn tee, some preserves from my favorite farmstand, a bag of my granola, some homemade marzipan butter, and these cookies.

I had the idea for these as I was falling asleep a couple of weeks ago and I immediately texted it to my mom so I wouldn’t forget it. I had been racking my brain for ways to incorporate the marzipan butter I had just made (from Molly‘s new book!) into a baked good, and using it as a rugelach filling seemed like the perfect solution. So that’s what I did–and I wrapped it all up in a sprinkle-filled funfetti dough (then topped it off with more sprinkles, of course). To up the nostalgic funfetti flavor, I added some clear imitation vanilla in place of the normal vanilla extract in the original recipe (as per Momofuku Milk Bar’s epic confetti cake).

These cookies are sweet and almondy, and they taste like a lil slice of birthday cake. The dough takes all of 10 minutes to throw together, making these the perfect addition to your holiday cookie rotation. Oh, and p.s.: if you’re looking for more fun rugelach ideas, check out this post from a year or so ago!

You guys have no idea how long it took me to figure out how to make this video. From shooting the footage, to exporting the 300 files, to editing them all, to staying up way later than I should have the night before an early flight trying to put it all together on my dad’s suuuper slow computer (which is the only one in our house with Photoshop), to creating a YouTube channel (with the help of my techy brother) solely for the purpose of being able to embed a video in this post, this vid right here was a labor of love. But it was all in the name of funfetti, so it was completely worth it.

Funfetti Marzipan Rugelach

from crumbsandnibbles.com, adapted from Ina Garten and Molly Yeh

makes 36 rugelach

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles (jimmies are best)
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

For the filling:

• 1 cup marzipan butter (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

For the topping:

• 4 oz. white chocolate

Directions:

1. Cream butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until fluffy, then add in 1/4 cup sugar, salt and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low, then add in the flour and the sprinkles.
2. Gather the dough into a ball and divide into four equal pieces. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat.
4. On a floured surface, roll one quarter of dough out into a 9 by 9 inch square. Spread 1/4 cup of marzipan butter onto the rolled dough, leaving a 1-inch strip at the end farthest from you uncovered. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles. Starting at the end closest to you, roll the dough up tightly. Cut into 1-inch pieces and place on prepared baking sheets. Chill for 15-20 minutes and repeat with the rest of the dough.
5. Brush with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 18-24 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire racks.

Marzipan Butter Recipe

from Molly on the Range by Molly Yeh

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blanched almonds (8 oz.)
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Place the almonds in a food processor and blend for 10-12 minutes, or until creamy, scraping the sides occasionally.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and, scraping occasionally, blend for 12-15 more minutes or until smooth and very creamy. Be careful–the mixture will be very hot!
3. Set aside to let cool until slightly warm but still spreadable.

Happy nibbling!