Schnecken—the word means snail in German—are made of a rich and sweet yeast dough enriched with egg, sour cream, and butter. The dough is pressed out in a large rectangle shape, sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and ground nuts, and rolled up like a jelly roll. Cut on the cross section, the roll is sliced, baked, and served open-side up in small coiled rounds. Schnecken were very popular as breakfast treats throughout Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where many bakers happened to be Jewish.
Grandma Bessie Weinstein’s Schnecken
June 22, 2021
Ingredients
- 8ounces cream cheese
- 8ounces butter
- 2cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
- 1 18-ounce jar apricot preserves
- 2cups chopped walnuts
- 3cups golden raisins
- 4teaspoon sugar
- 1teaspoon cinnamon
Yield: About 5-6 dozen cookies
Preparation
Adapted from Stephanie Levine
- Step 1
Mix the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer or by hand. Add enough flour to form into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
- Step 2
The next day, take the dough out of the refrigerator at least an hour before working. Separate the ball into 4 pieces. Put the apricot jam, walnuts, raisins, sugar, and cinnamon in separate bowls.
- Step 3
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 4
Flour the surface and roll one piece of dough into a thin 8-by-12 rectangle. Spread the dough with 1/4 of the preserves and sprinkle with 1/3 of the nuts and raisins. Carefully roll the rectangle up until it is 12 inches long. Place seam side down on cookie sheet and liberally sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
- Step 5
Bake logs for 30-40 minutes until slightly brown. When cool, cut with sharp knife into 2-inch pieces (any smaller and they will crumble) and serve.
You can freeze the uncooked logs and bake them (even) months later.