Rugelach

What You Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. To prepare the dough, cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended and smooth.
3. Next, scrape the bowl, reduce the speed to low and then have your child gradually add the flour. Knead the dough lightly in the bowl until the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.
4. Have him wrap the top of the bowl well with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for 2 hours or as long as overnight.
5. Now, prepare the filling. Ask him to help you mix the sugar, cinnamon, nuts, coconut, and raisins together in a medium-size bowl, and set it aside.
6. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Invite him to help you divide the dough into eight portions. Work with one at a time, while keeping the remainder refrigerated. Gently knead a portion of dough until it is soft enough to roll. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board or between two sheets of waxed or parchment paper, and cut out a 10- to 12-inch round. (Try using a pot lid with a sharp edge).
8. Spread a thin layer of jam over the dough, and sprinkle about 1/2 cup of the filling over it. Using a pizza wheel, cut the round into 12 wedges, as you would a pie.
9. Have your child roll up each triangle, starting at the large end. With the tip end down, bend each cookie slightly to form a crescent shape. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets and brush them with melted butter.
10. Bake, two sheets at a time, on the bottom third and top third oven racks, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the rugelach are lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. They will seem soft, but they will firm upon cooling.
11. Immediately and carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool.