Today I’m partnering with King Arthur Baking. You know I am a total fangirl for KAF, so imagine my excitement when we began working together on their Holiday Table. The other week, we discussed what we’re grateful for. Working with such a well respected company who consistently puts forth quality products is on my list.
Have you ever made rugelach before? I know it looks ultra fancy and maybe a little intimidating. Truth is, it’s just a matter of mixing up a dough, chilling it, and rolling it up with filling inside. Like cinnamon rolls, but without any yeast. A traditional Jewish treat, rugelach tastes like buttery, light, and flaky croissants, but aren’t nearly as fussy.
Did you read that?!
Easy homemade croissant-like delights!
Rugelach happily accommodates any sort of fillings from jam and chocolate to dried fruit and nuts. You can roll the dough up into different shapes, slicing pinwheels or spirals, there’s pull-apart or logs, wreaths, twists, you name it. But it all begins with just 1 dough and 1 filling. Here’s how to make rugelach cookies in 1 million photos.
(Ok, 6.)
Today we’ll make a traditional rugelach dough in the food processor and fill it with a sweet brown sugar cinnamon filling that will melt inside the dough as it bakes. The contrast between the salted dough and warm, sweet filling is just about as mouthwatering as cookies get. The dough is similar to the dough I use for maple walnut tassies , though this dough is flakier and more crisp.
The food processor lends a giant helping hand. It’s preferred because it helps create the light and tender pastry; a mixer creates a tougher pastry. The food processor will cut the various fats into the flour and salt mixture. We’ll be using cream cheese, butter, and sour cream in the dough. Health food? These are not.
You can use a pastry cutter if you prefer—and what I always prefer when making pie crust and biscuits—but rugelach requires the teeniest, uniformly sized pieces of fat and flour. There’s wiggle room in pie dough, but not so much here. A food processor makes the job 150% easier and cuts time down to… maybe… 1 minute? Yup, about 1 minute to make this dough.
Flatten the dough into discs and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Or you can pop into the freezer to enjoy homemade rugelach another day. That’s another beautiful thing about rugelach besides being crazy versatile. It’s patient; bake it later if you want!
But if today’s the day for rugelach (um and it should be), roll out the doughs after they’ve chilled, spread the filling on top, and cut into triangles like you would a pizza. And use a pizza cutter… like you would a pizza. The filling should be prepared in the food processor as well because we’re pulsing brown sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins together to make a moist dried fruit/nut paste of sorts. Heavy on that cinnamon because… holidays.
Press it down onto the dough so it has staying power.
Roll up!
Bake!
The filling gets all melty and warm, the pastry is buttery, uniquely crisp, light, and flaky. Some filling may spill out and a little butter may drip out of the dough as the rugelach bakes. But this is all OK! That butter dripping out will “fry” the bottoms into a crispy phenomenon. And there’s still plenty of good stuff hiding inside, too.
A blizzard of confectioners’ sugar adds a finishing touch.
PS: Let’s talk about savory versions, maybe for any appetizers you need this holiday season? I’m thinking pesto and parmesan or a sweet/salty rendition with jam and fine goat cheese crumbles. With rugelach, the options are deliciously endless.
PrintRugelach Cookies with Cream Cheese Dough
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: European
Description
Homemade rugelach is buttery and flaky with a light and crisp pastry dough and sweet cinnamon filling.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 6 ounces (170g) full-fat brick cream cheese, cold and cubed
- 1/3 cup (75g) sour cream, cold
Filling
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup (115g) chopped walnuts (chopped pecans work too)
- 1/2 cup (85g) raisins (or dried cranberries for some color!)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- water for brushing dough
- optional for topping: confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- For the crust: Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a couple times to blend.
- Add the butter, cream cheese, and sour cream. Pulse until crumbly; this will take 30 seconds or so. Pulse until there are pea-sized crumbs throughout. See photo above for a visual.
- Divide the dough into three equal portions and gently flatten into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic wrap, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day. Or freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- For the filling: Pulse the brown sugar, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon in the food processor until very finely chopped and well combined. The filling will feel a little moist. You’ll have a little over 2 cups total.
- Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Working with one disc of dough at a time and on a lightly floured work surface, roll into a 10-inch circle (roughly 1/4 inch thick, give or take) and brush it lightly with water. Spread about 1/3 of the filling on top. Gently press the filling down into the dough so it’s compact.
- Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 equal wedges. If you’re cutting on a silicone mat, be careful not to cut the mat. Roll each wedge up, beginning with the wide end and ending with the narrow end. Place the rolls point-side down onto the baking sheets, 8 on each. Repeat with the remaining two discs of dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake the rugelach for 25 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown. As the rugelach bake, the butter will lightly fry their bottoms, giving them a super crunchy crust.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm or at room temperature. Cover leftovers and store tightly at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can prepare the dough up to 1 day ahead of time as noted in step 3 or freeze for up to 3 months, also noted in step 3. You can prepare the filling 1 day in advance. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature until ready to use. Baked rugelach freezes well for up to 2 months; simply place in freezer bags. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper
- No Food Processor? Use a pastry cutter for the crust. Do not use a mixer. For the filling, simply chop it up very fine and use a pastry cutter again to combine it all.
- In partnership with King Arthur Flour.
Did you miss yesterday’s cookie palooza recipe? Red velvet whoopie pies.
Hi Sally! I love your recipes, you’re my go to person for all things dessert. I have made this recipe in the past they turned out amazing. Unfortunately, this time all the butter seeped out during baking into a puddle in the middle of the tray. They still taste delicious but are definitely missing that flaky butteriness that they had last time. I took the pucks of dough out one at a time, used an oven thermometer, etc. Any ideas on what I did wrong? Thank you for your help!
Hi Jen! Was it a particularly warm day in your kitchen? Make sure to keep the dough cold before baking to prevent the butter from leaking when baking. You can even refrigerate them before baking next time.
I followed the recipe exactly but the cookies ended up being too greasy (maybe too much butter, cream cheese and sour cream). The filling was delicious and the bottom of the cookie was nice and crisp. The rest was greasy. It was disappointing. Not sure what went wrong.
This recipe is a keeper. I took this recipe to several parties with a variety of cookies. I had so many compliments on the rugelach. They where the first cookie gone. I did add a thin layer of apricot jam other than that followed the recipe.
Thank you!!
This recipe is outstanding! The best, most delicious rugelach ever! I didn’t have raisins so substituted chopped prunes and it was divine. The pastry is amazing and incredibly flaky and the filling is scrumptious.
I tried to pulse the dough and didn’t stop in time and it all creamed together , can I still use it .
Hi Sabrina! You can still use it, but the texture will not be as intended and could be tough from over-working.
I need to make these nut free, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
This dough can be used with any sort of fillings, from jam or chocolate to dried fruit.
Terrific! I made this recipe last week to share with friends and it was all eaten with many compliments. I’ve never tried to make rugelach before and this recipe made it so easy that I would like to try making it again with different flavors. Thank you, Sally!
Can you roll these up in a log and slice to bake? What about cutting smaller wedges to roll up?
Hi Terri, I haven’t tried that with this dough, so let me know if you do!
I plan on making this for my family Hanukkah party this weekend. Can I make the dough, the filling and assemble them all in one day and bake the next?
Hi Francie, you can prepare the dough up to 1 day ahead of time as noted in step 3, and you can prepare the filling 1 day in advance. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature until ready to use. Then, we’d recommend assembling right before you bake. Hope they’re a hit!
This crust is so delicious! I love Rugelach, but are there additional cookies/pastries that can be made with this crust?
Hi Beth, so glad you enjoy this recipe! This dough can be used with any sort of fillings, from jam or Nutella to dried fruit and nuts. You can roll the dough up into different shapes, slicing pinwheels or spirals, or shape as logs, wreaths, twists, or pull-aparts. You could try filling it with homemade lemon curd, chocolate ganache, or raspberry cake filling. Let us know what you try!
Mine burned so badly on the bottom. What did I do wrong? The brown sugar oozed out and burned badly.
Hi Natalie! I wonder if your oven may run a little hot. We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer so you know the exact temperature (most ovens are off!).
What would I use for raspberry filling? Something simple as raspberry jam?
Hi Nancy, what we would do is add a thin layer of raspberry jam/preserves before adding the nut filling. Let us know if you try it!
First time to make rugelach, I added a little dark chocolate ground up with filling!
End result was great, but a lot of butter ran out of cookies in pan. I used some “months old” in freezer European butter.
Was it the butter? Or did I not process the butter in small enough size?
Hi Gayle, we’re glad you enjoyed the cookies! The European butter could be the culprit. European style butters often aren’t ideal for baking smaller items with short bake times such as cookies and cupcakes. Larger items like quick breads are usually fine, but these higher fat butters create excess spread in cookies. It, of course, depends on the brand and recipe you are using but that’s our general experience. For future batches, we’d recommend another brand of butter if you have it available to you!
Was told this was the best rugelach they’ve ever had and begged me for more!! I used a 2 knife method and grated frozen butter to get the dough together. It worked beautifully. Will be saving this recipe. Another winning recipe, thank you!!
Can this be made without the raisins or the cranberries,?
Hi Mary Ann, the filling will be quite dry without the raisins/cranberries. What you could try instead is to mix a few Tablespoons of jam with the water and spread that generously on the dough before adding the nut mixture.
I made it without the raisins/cranberries and she’s absolutely right – it was crumbly and dry. I didn’t want to mess with the liquid ratio so just went with it. It was super messy but still worked out wonderfully.
Flakey buttery dough with just the perfect filling
I substituted dates for the fruit .. perfect
Do I really need to use the raisins. Don’t like them
Hi Teresa! Dried cranberries work well here too.
The dough was incredible but the filling was dry. Not sure from the ingredients where it would become moist and I’ve never made or eaten a rugaleh without a jam base! After rolling out one disc of dough I added a thin layer of jam instead of the water. Huge difference in taste and overall product. Also, I like my pieces to be more bite size and less clunky looking.
Hi! The raisins and water add the moisture. I’m glad you found a way to make the recipe work for you.
I’m going to try this recipe. So far every one of your recipes comes out exactly as expected or better than expected! Thank you for your endless baking ideas. It’s never boring.
Dear Sally, I have loved your recipes and have been very successful with them…Thank you!
I want to try these…My friend really LOVES chocolate rugelach. How do I make the filling for chocolate?
Hi Meg, you could try swapping out some/all of the nuts/raisins with chocolate chips (still process them with the other ingredients). Please do let us know if you try it!
I can’t wait to try these. But before I start, would a 10 cup food processor be large enough? I see Sally’s product suggestion is a 13 cup.
Hi Marci, yes, a 10-cup processor is large enough.
Delicious! My first time making them. I used the dried cranberries as suggested as the alternative. I served these at an event and everyone loved them and I sent many the recipe.
I make savory versions too. An olive, hazelnuts and olive oil and a Croque Monsieur with bechamel sauce. Also, fill them with pepper jelly. All of them are delicious! My mother taught me the basic dough recipe in the 1970’s. Her memory is a blessing
I want to take these into work and my manager has celiac. Has anyone had luck with a gluten free flour?
I’ve never tried cookies with GF flour, but I have made cakes with it. I use a 1:1 GF flour so no additives needed. I imagine it would work with cookies/pastry the same as you’re not trying to build up the gluten like kneeding bread dough.
All your recipes are top notch and decadent. I add a thin layer apricot jam b4 adding the brown sugar filling. It makes a caramel-ly underside.
Rugelach is one of my all time favorites, but I’ve only tried to make it one time before with a different recipe. I wasn’t thrilled with how those turned out, so I was so hoping this would be better. Well… it was! These came out exactly how I love them! Crispy/flaky deliciousness!! I had to stop myself from eating all of them! I made one dough ball exactly as written, one with a thin layer of raspberry preserves, and one with a thin layer of apricot preserves. All were wonderful!
Doe to soft stuck to counter had to add a lot more flower I flowed the directions what went wrong in the end cookies were good