Pecan pie ruggelach pinwheels

While I was on a ruggelach pinwheel making kick, I decided to try out that pecan pie ruggelach filling in ruggelach pinwheels.  Honestly, when I made the actual ruggelach, I attempted a mini roll, just to see how they turned out.  The pecan pie filling is super runny, but it didn't run quite as much with the pinwheels, so I thought I at least had to try them out with this dough. 

The dough from the ruggelach pinwheels is a little different than the dough in the original pecan pie ruggelach.  The big difference?  There is no sugar in the pecan pie ruggelach dough -- probably because the filling is so freakin' sweet.  But for consistency's sake, I decided to use the pinwheel dough for the pecan pie ruggelach pinwheels.

 

The nice thing about these is that the filling didn't run like it did in the regular pecan pie ruggelach.  And they were still super tasty!

 

Pecan Pie Rugglach Pinwheels

Dough from Smitten Kitchen, Filling from Buzzfeed, idea to combine them from JulieBakes.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour

Filling:

2 cups shelled pecan halves
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into 4 pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
Note: I skipped the apricot preserves on these since the filling is so wet.

Topping:

1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Place cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy.
Add sugar and continue processing until fully incorporated.
Add flour and pulse just until dough comes together.
Divide dough into 2 equal pieces, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, make filling.
Using a knife, finely chop pecans and put in a medium mixing bowl. (Do NOT do chop the nuts in a food processor. You want the pecans to be chopped but still coarse, and a food processor will turn them into nut butter.)
In a small saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter by adding all 4 pieces at once and constantly stirring with a heatproof spatula until completely melted.
Continue to stir or swirl the pan as butter starts to bubble and foam.
When the foam subsides slightly and butter turns a light brown color, take it off the heat immediately and add the it to the chopped pecans.
Add vanilla extract, corn syrup, and brown sugar, and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of dough into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick.
My tip: roll the dough between two floured pieces of parchment paper.
BEFORE going any further, slightly flour the up side of dough and transfer the rolled out dough onto a piece of saran wrap by flipping it over (the floured side will now be down.
Spread the filling mixture over the dough.
Roll dough into a log beginning with one of the long sides.  This is where the dough being on saran wrap helps.  The dough is pretty soft by now, and rolling can be a little bit difficult.  UNLESS its already on the saran wrap.  You can use the plastic wrap to aid in rolling, making sure that the roll is tight (less filling lost later), and it makes it much easier for the next step.
Wrap rolled dough in plastic wrap.
Transfer dough log baking sheet.
Repeat process with remaining piece of dough.
Place dough logs in refrigerator; let chill at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
Mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping; set aside.

Slice chilled dough logs crosswise, about 1/4 inch thick.
Toss each cookie in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Place cookies 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
Bake until lightly browned, 18 to 20 minutes.
Lift parchment paper from baking sheets and transfer to a wire cooling rack; let cool.