Sour cherry rugelach

Sour cherry rugelach. (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

November 27, 2012, 8:05 a.m.

Leah Koch of Los Angeles was one of the 10 winners of our first Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off with these sour cherry rugelach:

"In 2005, my mother died of ovarian cancer the day after Christmas," she wrote. "We stumbled around in a fog for a few months, but before we knew it, it was the holidays again. This time, it was my father and me trying to fill the shoes my mother had left. While we bake these sour cherry rugelach, I am reminded of how much I miss my mom, but I'm also reminded of my dad's incredible courage and devotion to his kids. The taste of sour cherry and buttery crust means that it's December again and we've made it through another year, together."

Sour cherry rugelach is one of the favorite holiday cookie recipes we've collected in our updated "Los Angeles Times Holiday Cookies" e-book. The cookbook now includes 65 recipes from a wide range of sources, from world-famous pastry chefs, favorite bakeries and home cooks. And check out the favorite holiday recipes we've collected in our "Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook." The book shares more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's.

Each book is $4.99, and they are available at the Los Angeles Times bookstore for Kindle, Nook and iBooks.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.

Sour cherry rugelach

Submitted by Leah Koch of Los Angeles

Total time: 1½ hours, plus chilling time

Servings: About 5 dozen cookies

Dough

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

1 (8-ounce) package light cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2¾ cups flour

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until combined. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the salt, then slowly beat in the flour until thoroughly combined to form the dough.