Savory Pumpkin-Cheddar Rugelach

I know, I know. More pumpkin. I can't seem to help myself.

A few things have finally happened around here that suggest fall might actually be on its way:

1. According to my dashboard, the temperature dipped down to a *crisp* 69 degrees this morning. Woo!

2. I have seen/heard of several roadside pumpkin patches {and just about every other picture on my Facebook feed shows little ones posing with said pumpkins}.

3. There was only one can of pumpkin puree left on the shelves at Target.

I totally snagged it so I could make these. Score.

Have you ever tried rugelach? I remember my mom would buy them sometimes when I was younger. They came in a clear plastic cylinder, giving me a clear view that the contents were nothing to be excited about. Though I knew they were considered a "treat" I couldn't quite understand the appeal... probably because, while they were sweet, they were usually filled with fruit & nuts. And in my kid-brain, fruit & nuts equaled adult food. Therefore, yuck. {Very logical.}

It wasn't until I was a bit older that I started to appreciate them. Tender, flaky, melt-in-your mouth crust. Delicious filling all tucked and rolled into each swirled little cookie. {And I discovered that they can sometimes contain chocolate, too. That might have helped my change of heart.} What's not to love?

As much as I love rugelach with a sweet filling, this recipe for savory rugelach caught my eye immediately. In fact, I pinned them as soon as I saw them shared by King Arthur Flour... and then promptly forgot about them.

I'm really glad the thought of these popped into my head again this week. Because They.Are.GOOD.

Like, "Maybe I won't tell anyone I made these and I'll just eat the whole tray" kinda good.

{Though I don't recommend doing that or anything.}

You know what these would be perfect for? {Besides devouring, of course.} A little wine night with the girls. Or as a savory little appetizer to hold over hungry stomachs before Thanksgiving dinner. Or really, for no other reason than to have a delicious snack to nibble on any day.

While the original recipe called for the combination of pumpkin and Parmesan, I decided to use some Cabot Farmhouse Reserve Aged Cheddar, mostly just because it sounded like a good idea. {It was.} The addition of sage and onion give the pumpkin an even warmer, more inviting flavor.

Delish.

So, are you guys all pumpkined-out yet, or what? What other types of fall recipes are you hoping to see around here... I'm open to suggestions! Leave me a note in the comments or hop over to my Facebook page and let me know what you're thinking. :)

Savory Pumpkin-Cheddar Rugelach
Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
4 ounces {half a block} cream cheese, diced

For Filling:

1 tablespoon garlic oil or regular olive oil
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
Dash of chili powder
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper
1/4 cup {or a smidge more} aged white cheddar {I used Cabot Farmhouse Reserve}
2 tablespoons walnuts, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
.
1. Place all pastry ingredients into a blender. Pulse until the dough comes together. You'll know it's done because it'll gather up into a ball.

2. Place dough on a floured surface and roll out into a circle, about 14 inches round. At this point, you can pop it into the fridge until you're ready to spread on the filling or wrap it up in plastic wrap in refrigerate until you're ready to use it.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir, cooking until translucent and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with ground sage and chili powder and cook, stirring, for about 1 more minute.

4. Add pumpkin puree, salt and pepper. Stir together with onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the pumpkin has lost some of its moisture.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with non-stick cooking spray or line with foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Either way, make sure you use cooking spray! These like to stick!

5. Remove rolled pastry circle from refrigerator. {Make sure that it is able to be removed from the surface you have it on, then dust with flour and set down again.} Spread pumpkin mixture onto the circle, leaving about 1/4 inch border. Sprinkle cheese and walnuts over top of pumpkin.

6. Using a pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges. {The easiest way to ensure they're equally sized is to cut in half, then in half again, and proceed until you have 18 long triangles.}

7. Starting at the wider end, roll each triangle up, then place on prepared baking sheet. Continue until all pieces are rolled. Brush each with egg wash.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the rugelach are lightly browned.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool down. {Be careful, they're sort of fragile when they first come out of the oven.}

Willowbird Baking Challenge #2: Brie & Jam Braid with Candied Walnuts

Did you get a chance to check out all the fabulous, innovative recipes from Willow Bird Baking's "Cinnamon Roll" Challenge last week? Seriously creative bakers, I tell you. {Uh, Guava & White Chocolate Cream Cheese Rolls?? I die.}

I participated in the first challenge because I like to give myself extra projects when I barely have time to breathe liked the idea of challenging myself with something I don't usually make. And the end result was great. But upon completion, I thought to myself, "Ok... that was fun. But no more challenges for a bit."

Well... I lied. To myself, that is. Because after I watched Julie's Challenge #2 video, I had a flood of ideas that I wanted to try out. I just couldn't resist.

The challenge this week? A braid. No, not like the fancy ones for hair that you see all over Pinterest... the ones that look like they might require a few extra limbs to accomplish. But a Cream Cheese Braid, like you might see served at a brunch or tea party.

I've actually made something similar before {back when I didn't know you were actually supposed to post recipes on a cooking blog. Duh.} , and it was pretty delicious.

This time, I decided to go with a stroke of savory/sweet inspiration and came up with the Brie & Jam Braid with Candied Walnuts.

I LOVE brie. It's quite possibly one of my favorite foods. Ever. And around the holidays, I start wanting to serve it at every party, get together, and gathering I have so that the leftovers will remain in my fridge for me to snack on. {They don't last very long.}

If you've ever had Brie en Croute, you know of the buttery simplicity of a wheel of brie enveloped in puff pastry and baked to melty perfection. Many times, you'll also find it topped with nuts or fruit jam. The combination of sweet and savory, crunchy and flaky, gooey and jammy, is divine.

{Pardon me while I mop up the drool puddle on my keyboard.}

So, for my braid, I decided to wrap up some of those flavors and textures in a neat little cream cheese dough package.

Brie. Apricot jam. Candied walnuts and a brown sugar syrup.

For some things, "Yum" is the only appropriate response. This is one of those things.

I'm not sure if I'll go for the next WBB Challenge, but I'm glad I decided to try this one because I have a feeling this recipe will be making an appearance again in the near future!

Brie & Jam Braid with Candied Walnuts

Willow Bird Baking Cream Cheese Dough Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
3 ounces best quality cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup milk, minus 1/2 teaspoon

Filling:

4 oz. {approximately} brie
1/4 cup apricot jam {or your favorite jam... raspberry or apple butter would be amazing!}
1/3 cup brown sugar
1-2 tablespoons water
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, diced butter, and cubed cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times until large chunks are no longer visible and the flour resembles coarse meal.

Slowly add milk through feed, pulsing a few times until a ball of dough forms. {Do not overprocess.}

Turn sticky dough out onto a floured piece of parchment or wax paper. With floured hands, lightly knead a few times {not too many or you'll get a tough dough!}. Place another sheet of parchment or wax paper on top and, using a rolling pin, flatten and roll out into approximately an 8x12 inch rectangle. {Or amoeba shaped, as the case may be. I just can't seem to roll out dough into a rectangle!}

Slide onto a sheet tray coated with non-stick cooking spray. {If you are using wax paper, you will want to slide it out from under the dough. For parchment, you may keep the paper underneath the dough. DO NOT bake wax paper!}

Follow Julie's directions for marking & cutting the dough.  {She has great pictures over there that serve as a guide for you visual ones out there!}

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread jam in the center third of the dough. Top with slices of brie. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Until sugar is melted and begins to bubble slightly. Add in chopped walnuts and stir to coat. {If the sugar hardens, you may want to add another tablespoon of water to loosen it up again.}

Pour coated walnuts and brown sugar syrup over brie.

Beginning at the top of your dough, take the first flap and fold it over diagonally toward the opposite side. Do the same with the flap on the other side. {It will look like flaps of dough hugging the center.} Continue doing this all the way down the dough until you have what resembles a braid. {It's ok if it isn't perfect... it will still taste good!}

Bake braid for 12-15 minutes, until dough is cooked through and slightly golden.

Meanwhile, place butter & brown sugar in a microwave safe measuring cup. Heat on high for about 1 minute, for 30 second intervals until butter and sugar melt together into a thickened syrup.

Pour over top of braid.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Willowbird Baking Challenge: Cuban Sandwich "Cinnamon" Rolls

I'm sure it's pretty easy to surmise from reading this blog that I'm in the kitchen a lot. I can't even imagine the actual amount of hours I've logged researching recipes, mixing up batters, baking up goodies, and taste testing. {And let's not even talk about the actual amount of calories consumed. Yikes!}

When you do something that often, it's nice to have a little push from an outside source to get creative and challenge yourself to a new technique.

Except, ironically, most of my close friends aren't remotely as into cooking and baking as I am. I'd even say some have a slight aversion to it! And while they are all super supportive of my passion {and always willing to taste test the latest invention out of my oven}, I don't expect them to be nearly as obsessed enthusiastic about kitchen related matters as I am.

For inspiration and motivation, I read other cooking blogs. And there are SO many good ones out there. What I've found in all my reading is that, much like in the "real" world of interpersonal relationships, certain blogs appeal to me more than others because of the writers behind them.

When I read a blog, I like to get a sense of the person who is sharing such carefully crafted information, pictures, and stories with me. Some blogs I find intriguing because their writers live such a different type of life than I do that it's sort of fun to peek into a different world {voyeuristic much??}. With others I feel instantly connected to the author because I think to myself, "I would totally do/say/cook/feel that way!" in reading their adventures. You know how sometimes you meet someone {or browse their Pinterest boards} and you just know that you could be besties? Yeah, that happens in the blog world, too.

So anyway, all this rambling is just setting you up to tell you how I came to make these:

Cuban Sandwich "Cinnamon" Rolls

What?

No, they're not as weird as they sound, I promise. And they don't even contain cinnamon, but I'm not sure what you call a cinnamon-bun-style savory roll-type-thing. {And aren't you glad I didn't decide to call them that instead?}

Julie from Willow Bird Baking, a blog that I stumbled upon a while back, challenged her readers to step outside the usual and innovate cinnamon rolls. {In case you are interested in seeing the video call-to-action, click here. She is just adorable.} Why? Well... why not?

If you take a look at her blog's tag line, it says right there across the top that part of the blog is about teaching "Kitchen Confidence". {Which I love and, am not going to lie, wish I came up with myself.}

So yeah, once I saw her challenge, I knew I had to take part in it. {Even though, seriously folks, I am up to my eyeballs in other things I should be doing right now. But whatever.}

After the initial thought of "Maple Bacon Rolls", which she totally mentions in her video, I came up with Cuban Sandwich Rolls... because, isn't that the next logical thought?

I have no idea what possessed me to think of such a thing {except for the fact that my family is Cuban, I live near Miami, and I love Cuban sandwiches, of course}, but I have to tell you that I am pretty sure you're going to love me for it. Or hate me. Because Julie's recipe for dough {which was a required element of the challenge} calls for shortening and we all know there is just no healthying that up.

Challenge yourselves, friends, and make these. Or if you're not into cooking, challenge yourself to do something new in whatever you consider your passion. Because growing and connecting is what it's all about.

And thank you, Julie, for fun and delicious challenge!

Cuban Sandwich "Cinnamon" Rolls
Inspired by Willow Bird Baking

For the Dough:

Click here for Julie's fabulous Cinnamon Roll Dough Base ... and try not to drool on yourself when you see the Coconut Almond version she made!

For the Filling:

2-3 tablespoons yellow mustard {nothing fancy, that's not how Cuban sandwiches roll}
About 1/3 cup dill pickles, roughly chopped
Approximately 12 slices of Swiss cheese
Approximately 1/4 pound deli sliced ham
Approximately 1/4 pound deli sliced pork
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Make the dough. {This recipe is an over-nighter so plan accordingly!}

*Note: I only used half of the dough this recipe makes. You can use the whole thing if you prefer, but you will need to double the amount of filling ingredients to ensure you have enough. If you'd like to save the other half of the dough, wrap it up in plastic wrap and freeze or use the other half to make another creative roll!}

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick.

Apply a thin layer of yellow mustard with an offset spatula leaving a 1/4 inch border all the way around so it doesn't squirt out the sides when you roll it up.

Sprinkle chopped pickles over the mustard. Lay slices of Swiss cheese side by side until the entire rectangle is covered. Repeat with ham and pork slices.

With the long side facing you, roll up the dough carefully, and place seam side down. With a very sharp knife, cut about 1 inch thick pieces. {I find the easiest way to do this is to cut the entire log in half. Then cut each half in half again, etc. until you have sliced it up into even slices.}

In the prepared baking dish, place the sliced rolls snugly next to one another. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean moistened dish towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until they are just about doubled in size.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until browned on the top. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter, then bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve while warm and melty.