Rugelach are buttery and flaky pastry-type cookies typically filled with nuts, cinnamon-sugar, dried fruit, chocolate, or jam. While these little pastries may look difficult to make, the 3 ingredient dough couldn’t be any simpler. Our recipe for these sweet treats starts with a traditional cream cheese dough you can whip up in your food processor. All rolled up with crunchy walnuts and cinnamon brown sugar, these rugelach are sure to have everyone in your family reaching for seconds.
Rug-a-lah
Rugelach, pronounced rug-a-lah, are small pastries made from a simple cream cheese dough rolled up with sweet fillings. They originated in Jewish communities in Poland and are enjoyed throughout the year, but are especially popular during Jewish holidays like Hanukkah.
Chill Out!
The secret to these crisp and flaky pastry cookies lies in the chilling of the dough. When making the dough, be sure to start with fridge-cold butter and cream cheese. After you make the dough split it in three equal portions, wrap each portion in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
When it comes time to roll out the cookies, work with one-third of the dough at a time, keeping the rest of the dough fridge. Because of the cream cheese, the dough warms up very quickly, so work fast as you roll and shape the cookies to keep everything cool. If you find the dough is warming up and sticking to the counter as you are trying to roll it, use a bench scraper or butter knife to help the dough release.
After you roll and fill all of the rugelach, refrigerate the whole tray of cookies one final time before baking for 25-30 minutes in a 350° preheated oven.
Rugelach Variations
The fun thing about making rugelach is that you can go wild and have fun with different types of fillings and flavors. Our version gets a generous filling of brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts before they are rolled up just like pop-tube croissants.
Other traditional fillings and flavors for rugelach are:
- Apricot jam
- Brown sugar and raisin
- Chopped nuts
- Chopped dried fruit
- Cinnamon and white sugar
- Mini chocolate chips
You’ll roll out the rugelach dough in three batches so you have the option to fill each batch with the same filling or switch them up to try something different!
Rugelach
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting*
- 8 ounces cream cheese**, cold, cut into large chunks
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into large chunks
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten
- flakey sea salt, to taste
Instructions
Make the Dough & Filling
- In a food processor, pulse together the flour, butter and cream cheese** until the mixture looks like wet sand. The dough will look very crumbly but will hold together when pinched.
- Tip the crumbly dough out onto a clean, smooth surface and pat into 3 equally sized disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge for 30 minutes.
- To make the filling combine the brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside until you ready to roll and shape the rugelach.
Roll and Shape the Rugelach
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper. On a clean, smooth surface sprinkle a scant amount of flour for rolling the dough.* Work with one disk of chilled dough at a time, keeping the other one in the fridge. Roll out the disk of dough into a 9" circle, trimming off any scraggly edges.
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the brown sugar and walnut filling to coat the entire circle of dough. Use the palms of your hand to firmly press down the filling into the dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the circle into 16 sections. Roll each section from thick end to thin, just as you would a pop-tube croissant. Work quickly to roll up each cookie as the dough will become soft the longer its out at room temperature.
- Line up the cookies on the parchment-lined baking tray with at least half an inch between each cookie. Repeat with the remaining disks of dough until you have rolled and shaped all of your rugelach. You may need to use two baking trays. Refrigerate the whole tray of cookies for 30 minutes before adding the egg wash and baking.
Bake
- While the cookies are chilling in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350°. After the rugelach have chilled for 30 minutes, brush each cookie with beaten egg and sprinkle on some flaky sea salt. Bake in a 350° preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until they are golden brown and flaky.
Equipment
- food processor
- Rolling Pin
- 1 Pizza Cutter, or sharp knife
- baking tray
- Parchment paper
- pastry brush
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Diana
The directions are a little confusing. Just to clarify there are 3 discs of dough and then you use only a 1/3 of the filling right? It’s says 1/2 of the filling but I may have read that wrong.
Brooke Eliason
Sorry that was a typo- it should say 1/3 of the filling! Thanks for the question. We’ll fix that asap. 🙂