Rugelach are crescent-shaped cookies, traditionally served for Hanukkah, but the rich cream cheese dough, and variety of possible fillings make this a delicious any-holiday cookie recipe. This recipe is from Ina Garten’s, Barefoot Contessa Parties! This is one tasty cookie. Or is it a pastry? Let’s discuss.
What are rugelach?
Rugelach are crescent shaped cookies made from a rich cream cheese dough that’s somewhere between a cookie and a pastry dough. They are filled with a variety of nuts, jam, chocolate, poppy seeds or raisins. (This post was originally published on November 26th, 2013. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn commission on qualifying purchases.)
Where did rugelach originate?
Rugelach originated in Poland, but are eaten in Jewish communities all over the world. You can find them in coffee shops all over Eastern Europe and Israel as well as any good Jewish bakery. More delicious cookies found in Central and Eastern Europe are these Moravian Molasses Cookies or German Zimtsterne.
What does rugelach mean?
According to Wikipedia, rugelach can mean “little twists”, “corner” or “horn”. All of which describe its shape which looks just like a miniature croissant. Others say that it comes from “rugel” which means royal. Pronounce it; “roo-gah-lah.
Can you use other fillings?
Absolutely! This rugelach recipe uses walnuts and cinnamon and apricot jam. I like apricot jam since it has a fairly neutral taste and doesn’t compete with the cinnamon and walnut filling. You could certainly substitute raspberry jam and chopped pecans or or cherry jam and almonds. There are endless possibilities! Apricot jam is also used as a glaze for many baked goods.
Can you freeze rugelach?
Yes. You can freeze the rugelach dough one of two ways. Either freeze the dough once you’ve rolled it out into a disc shape or freeze the filled and rolled cookies on a cookie sheet then wrap them carefully. When you’re ready to bake the rugelach, just place the filled cookies on a baking sheet while you heat up the oven. They should be defrosted by the time you pop them in the oven.
If you’re freezing the discs of dough, defrost the dough until it can be easily rolled.
Ingredients for rugelach
This is what you’ll need.
- cream cheese
- butter
- sugar
- kosher salt
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- brown sguar
- cinnamon
- walnuts
- apricot preserve
- 1 egg for the egg wash
- milk for egg wash
How do you make rugelach?
Make sure the butter and cream cheese are room temperature. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until light. Add 1/4 cup sugar, salt and vanilla. Turn mixer to low and add the flour gradually until just combined.
Turn out the dough onto. a well-floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut the dough into quarters. (For uniformity, I like to use a scale so that each quarter weighs the same) A scale is such a useful kitchen tool. I like this kitchen scale that’s priced under $10.
Flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap well in plastic and refrigerate for an hour. At this point, you can freeze the dough.
While dough is chilling, prepare the filling. Mix the brown sugar, 6 Tablespoons of granulated sugar, and chopped walnuts in a bowl. Next, puree the apricot jam in a food processor so it’s a little smoother and easier to spread.
On a lightly floured board, roll each ball into a 9″ circle. I like to use the bottom of my springform pan as a guide, trimming it and patching the dough as needed.
Spread each circle of dough with 1/4 of the jam (about 2 Tablespoons) with a pastry brush.
Sprinkle each circle of with 1/4 of the cinnamon walnut filling (around 1/3 of a cup). Press the filling lightly into the dough.
Cut each circle into equal wedges using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Next, roll the cookies, starting with the wide end of each wedge, roll each wedge until it looks like a little croissant.
The point should be on the bottom. Place rugelach on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Chill for 30 minutes. (You can freeze the rugelach at this point too.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the remaining 3 Tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Make the egg wash by beating 1 Tablespoon milk with the egg.
Brush each cookie with the egg wash. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove to wire racks and let cool.
Store the rugelach at room temperature for several days in a cookie tin or sealed container.
Looking for more international cookies? What about Italian biscotti or canutucci or Scottish shortbread or
Rugelach
Ingredients
Rugelach Dough
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 8 ounces unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar (1.8 ounces)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (9 ounces)
Rugelach Filling
- 6 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed (1.8 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup walnuts finely chopped
- 1/2 cup apricot preserves pureed in a food processor
Instructions
Rugelach Dough
- Cream the cheese and the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar, salt and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until just combined.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and roll it into a ball. Cut into quarters, roll each into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Dough can be frozen at this point)
Cinnamon Walnut Filling
- To make filling, combine 6 tablespoons sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and walnuts in a small bowl.
- On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a 9-inch circle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons of apricot preserves and sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the filling. Press filling lightly into the dough.
- Cut circle into 12 equal wedges. Starting with wide edge, roll up each wedge.
- Place cookies, points tucked under, on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat. Chill for 30 minutes. (Finished cookies can be frozen at this point)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Finishing the Rugelach
- Combine beaten egg and 1 Tablespoon milk to make an egg wash
- Combine the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies.
- Brush each cookie with egg wash.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.
Notes
- read the recipe through before beginning. The entire amount of white sugar is 1/4 cup PLUS 9 Tablespoons. 6 Tablespoons are used for the filling and 3 for sprinkling on top of the cookies before baking.
- If you want to freeze the dough, flatten each ball into a disc before freezing. Wrap well. It will keep for about 3 weeks.
Defrost before rolling out - If you want to freeze the cookies BEFORE baking, place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once they're frozen, place them in a zip-lock bag. Defrost on a cookie sheet before baking.
- Any nut or jam can be substituted.
Jasmine | The Gluten Free Scallywag says
Oh my, these look so delicious and rather delicate! Love the pastry mix. Bookmarked/Pinned/Whatever 🙂
Cynthia says
Jasmine, great thanks!
malahat kanyar says
I like cooking
Peggy says
Oh…..these look yummy. Looking at these gave me an idea. Use Baklava filling!
Cynthia says
Good idea Peggy!
Cathy | She Paused 4 Thought says
I was looking for an excuse to make Rugelach and your recipe just gave me one. I have never made them before, so I am excited to try this.
Christina says
I haven’t made rugelach in YEARS! I have tons of jam and think I will make these and fill them with jam instead of the cinnamon sugar 🙂
Megan Keno {Country Cleaver} says
*Mouth watering*
Cynthia says
thank you Megan!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
These sound delicious! Thanks for the great recipe
Cynthia says
Thank you Maris!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Love these! So delicious with the apricot preserves!
Sharon says
So, did you actually make them? How did they turn out? Any similarity to “real” ruggelah?
Cynthia says
Sharon, yes I made both the gluten free and regular version. You can see in my step-by-step photos how to make them. They are delicious. I think anyone who tastes them would be hard pressed to tell the difference!
Cynthia says
Thank you Kimberly!
The Food Hunter says
these have always been a favorite cookie of mine but I have actually never made them myself.
Cynthia says
I love them! I make them every year for christmas too!
Matt @ Plating Pixels says
Cream cheese dough? Now I’m intrigued. This would be perfect for a party!
Cynthia says
The cream cheese dough is what sets this cookie apart from an ordinary cookie! They really are delicious Matt!
Brandon @ Kitchen Konfidence says
These look so tasty! I’d love a plate of them with a nice hot cup of coffee 🙂
Cynthia says
Absolutely Brandon!
fabiola@notjustbaked says
I LOVE this recipe! I used to make these in a bakery where I worked, they are just too good.
Cynthia says
Great holiday cookie too Fabiola!
Beth says
I should make these!! It’s been years since I had a crescent roll!!
Cheryl says
I used to make rugelach every holiday season as a kid and really enjoyed the process. Now that I try to eat gluten free as an adult, I was very excited to try this recipe. I’ve cooked and baked my whole life, so I know how to follow a recipe (which I did), but this recipe was extremely sticky and not at all roll-able. 🙁 I was afraid to add enough flour to make the dough come together/roll-able because it would have required a great deal more than the recipe called for and I was concerned it would make the end product too dry. So, against my better judgement, I chilled the dough as it was and hoped it would become more roll-able once chilled thoroughly. After chilling overnight, I placed the dough on the counter for a short while to relax, then tried to roll it out. I placed 1/4 of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and rolled to a beautiful circle. Yay! However, I could hardly remove the top paper without ripping apart the dough and, once I did accomplish that, I realized the dough was just mushed to the bottom paper. There was no rolling it like a proper rugelach. I was so sad. I’ll see if I can use the dough for some other type of cookie because this just won’t work. 🙁
Cynthia says
Hi Cheryl, thanks for taking the time to give me feed back. As I said in my notes that it’s definitely more difficult to work with the gluten free dough than the regular dough. I’m sorry that they did not turn out for you. So many factors can affect baking. I’m wondering what
kind of gluten free flour you used, and if that could have affected it? I usually use Jeanne’s #GF flour blend, as I find that it most resembles “real” flour. On occasion, I’ve used Bob’s #GF flour, or another blend, and found that my baked goods did not taste nearly as good,
and the dough was harder to work with. Hope this helps.
Dayna says
I had similar results to Cheryl, using cup 4 cup. The dough was nearly impossible to roll and shape. I have ugly Christmas sweater versions of the cookie 😉 but they are scrumptious! Had much more success using 2 layers of dough with filling in the middle, cut into fingers.
Bethany says
Oh, yum! These look so good!
Thank you for linking up to my Gluten Free Christmas Treat link up!
Andrea says
OMG!!!!!! Just made these today and they are to die for!!!! First batch were awkward, the rest were beautiful, and the dough is soft and delicious!!! Thank you!!!
Cynthia says
So happy Andrea! did you try the #GF version or the regular? The #GF recipe is a much trickier dough to work with.
Catherine says
Dear Cynthia, I love rugelach. These look absolutely delightful! I haven’t had rugelach in so long…I would love one right now with my tea. xo, Catherine
Sandi (@fearless_dining) says
These cookies bring back so many great memories. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Chrissie says
Do you put the egg wash on them before you freeze them?
Cynthia says
No Chrissie, I would put the egg wash on just before you’re ready to bake them. (sorry for the late response, I’ve been out of the country)
Janet says
Love the taste but not so good at the rolling.
Cynthia says
If you start with a ball and then just work outward, it shouldn’t be to difficult.
Elainr says
Just what I was looking for! Great recipe, will make again!
Cynthia says
Awesome! Thank you!
Julia says
Hi Cynthia, I just found this recipe and would love to make them, but I need to make them gluten free and don’t see the recipe for that….
Thanks, Julia
Cynthia says
Hi Julia, I used to have alternate directions for gluten free. When I’ve made them GF, the only thing I’ve done differently is swap out the regular flour for GF flour. I am planning on testing them again and doing a separate post for GF. The suggestions I have for the GF version is that the dough is very fragile, so using parchment helps when you roll it out. Hope this helps.
Rachel says
My family doesn’t care for apricots so I was planning on using a fig preserve. Would you still use walnuts or would you use pecans? I plan on trying your recipe next weekend.
Cynthia says
Fig and walnut would be amazing! I’m going to try that next! Any jam works, raspberry and pecans, cherry and walnut would work too. But I love your idea of fig and walnuts, plus I have a lot of fig jam I have preserved!
Rachel says
I made it with fig and walnuts. Divine! But my crust wasn’t as fluffy as yours. I think I didn’t wrap it tight enough but idk. What could I do to make it as fluffy as yours?
Chef Mimi says
So pretty! There are actually a lot of rugelach where I live in Oklahoma because of some early Eastern European settlers. Otherwise we’re not very multi-cultural! Anyway, yours are really pretty.
Cynthia says
How interesting! I never would have guessed that!