One of the things I love most about American rugelach’s butter and cream cheese dough is how it puffs and crisps up in the oven, ending up almost as flaky as a croissant. In this spin on the classic Ashkenazi cookie, I leaned all the way into the French pastry vibes to create rugelach that taste remarkably similar to almond croissants. The rich frangipane-­inspired filling is flavored with an irresistible trio of almond extract, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.

Method:

• Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a handheld electric mixer and a large bowl), beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the flour in two additions, beating at low speed and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until a soft dough forms.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface and knead it a few times to bring it together. Divide it in half, shape into 2 disks, wrap each one well in parchment paper, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 1 day.
• Make the filling: Combine the almond flour, butter, confectioners’ (icing) sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse, scraping down the sides as necessary, until a smooth paste forms.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Remove one of the dough disks from the fridge (keep the remaining dough chilled). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a large circle that is ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Trim the dough to an approximately 12-­inch (30 cm) round. Spread about half of the almond filling evenly over it, leaving a ¼-­inch (6 mm) border all around.
• Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the round into 4 equal wedges, then cut each wedge into 4 wedges (ending up with 16 wedges). Starting from the outer edge, roll each wedge up on itself. Gently curve the rugelach into crescent shapes and place seam side down on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat the filling and rolling process with the remaining dough and filling.
• Brush the top of each cookie with a little of the beaten egg (you will not use all of it), then sprinkle generously with sugar.
• Bake, rotating the baking sheets back to front and top to bottom halfway through baking, until the rugelach are deep golden brown and the tops are flaky and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.
• Store the rugelach in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or, well wrapped, in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Recipe extracted from The Dessert Table: 100 Joyful Jewish Sweets by Leah Koenig, W. W. Norton & Company