A new take on rugelach: AKA how the pinwheel saved an old favorite

The last few weeks have gone by in some sort of sugar-coma induced haze!

First I spent a Sunday not too long ago making home-made cinnamon rolls, chocolate covered pretzels, and cake truffles (aka the famous cake balls) with M & A.

Then just this past weekend I decided that I absolutely had to try a recipe I found on smittenkitchen for rugelach pinwheels.

No real reason, I just felt that it was necessary.

And so I spent the last few days covered in sugar, blackberry jam and a fine dusting of ground walnuts.

It has been a totally worthwhile experience, however, as the rugelach pinwheels might be the tastiest little cookies ever.

Imagine rugelach.

Sweet, a little crunchy, a little fruit taste.

Then think about the things you (or just maybe I?) don’t like:

A little too much crunch, a tendency to dry out.

I don’t know what it is about the pinwheel shape, but it basically sails in the saves the day!

Still have a little crunch, but there is NO drying out at all. It’s basically jam filled and sugar covered perfection.

If you want to recipe, check out Deb’s site (see above).

I tweaked the recipe somewhat and nixed the raisins for purely practical reasons (couldn’t find a single one in the apt).

The first batch also included chocolate chips, but B and I decided that they were actually an unnecessary distraction.

The best combo seemed to be just warm blackberry jam spread onto the dough with a liberal coating of the white sugar/brown sugar/crushed walnut mix suggested by Deb.

We now have 2 tupperware containers full of the tasty little bites..so if you live nearby, please come over and eat!