Pumpkin Rugelach with Sage and Walnuts

Ingredients at the ready : egg, cream cheese, butter, flour, salt, onion, pumpkin, sage, walnuts, hot pepper. 

First things first -- the dough. Merrill employs the trusty scoop and scrape.

Butter awaits pulverization. 

Cream cheese, sliced and ready to join its buttery companion. 

Butter, flour, cream cheese, salt. A whir of the blade. Dough! 

Turn out onto parchment paper. 

Pat into a round that will be easy to roll out. 

Merrill tucks in the dough for an enviable two hour nap in the fridge. 

Now for a little chopping. Shallots! Two big ones! 

Sage! 

Walnuts! Chopped as finely as patience allows. 

Shallots go for a dip in hot oil. 

Followed quickly by pumpkin, sage and those hot hot chile flakes. 

The dough is awake! Get rolling. 

The filling is cooled and the dough is rolled out. Spread! 

Slice into dainty triangles. 

Rugelach roll-ups. 

If this doesn't melt your heart, nothing will. 

All that work is but a distant memory. 

Just try to resist us. Just try. Our savory, butter-flakey, nut-studdedness will not be denied.