Cherry Rugelach Hand Pies

In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour and salt. In a food processor, blend butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add flour mixture and pulse a few times until combined. (You can do all this in a bowl by hand as well).

Form the dough into a rectangle on your work surface, divide into eighths. Form each eighth into a ball, and wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Refrigerate balls until cold and firm, about 8 hours (you can speed this up by popping them into the freezer for the first hour).

For the filling, place a saucepan over medium heat,. Add cherries, water, lemon juice and sugar.

In a small bowl whisk cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until smooth

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. Uncover. The cherries should have soften and exuded their juice. If not cover and cook until they are soft and liquidy. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate.

Uncover and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is dark red, thick and glossy, about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Tear off a few more pieces of baking parchment to ease rolling. Remove one ball from the refrigerator at a time and unwrap. Place the ball between two sheets of parchment and roll out into a circle until about 3/8 of an inch thick. Put a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center, Fold one half over and crimp with a fork. Cut a slit in the center with a sharp knife, or poke three sets of holes with the fork.

Brush with a beaten egg and repeat with remaining balls.

Place in oven on a middle rack and bake 15 minutes. Check-- they should be just turning golden on top. If not, bake 5-7 minutes more. Remove from oven and place each pie on a baking rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.