✔ Updated · step photos, a no-food-processor method and freezer tips
Rugelach cookies are little crescents of flaky cream cheese dough rolled around jam, cinnamon sugar, nuts and raisins. This is the recipe I bake every holiday season, and the dough is far easier than it looks.
At a glance
The one tip that matters: Keep the dough cold. If it gets soft and sticky while you roll, slide it onto a tray and chill it for 10 minutes before cutting.
Why You'll Love These Rugelach
- No yeast, no proofing, just a 5-ingredient cream cheese dough.
- Flaky and buttery, with a jammy, crunchy cinnamon-nut filling.
- Make-ahead friendly, the dough keeps 2 days in the fridge and the cookies freeze beautifully.
What Is Rugelach?
Rugelach are small crescent cookies from Jewish baking traditions, popular for Hanukkah and holiday cookie trays. Older versions used a yeasted dough; the American bakery style I make uses a rich cream cheese and butter dough that bakes up flaky and tender.
The classic filling is apricot or raspberry jam with cinnamon sugar, chopped walnuts and raisins, but you can fill them with almost anything you like.
Filling Ideas
Use the same amounts as the recipe card and swap the flavors.
- Classic: apricot jam, cinnamon sugar, walnuts and raisins.
- Raspberry chocolate: raspberry jam and mini chocolate chips.
- Nutella hazelnut: a thin layer of Nutella-style spread and chopped toasted hazelnuts.
- Date and orange: chopped dates, orange zest and pecans.
- Chocolate babka style: melted chocolate, cocoa and sugar.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here's how it comes together. Exact amounts, times and temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Success
- Cold dough is everything. Warm cream cheese dough sticks, tears and bakes flat. I roll one disc at a time and leave the others in the fridge.
- Chop the filling fine. Big walnut pieces and whole raisins poke through the dough and the cookies won't roll neatly. A few pulses in the processor sorts it out.
- Go easy on the jam. Two tablespoons per circle is plenty. Any more and it bubbles out and scorches on the pan. Parchment saves you from scrubbing.
- Point-side down. Tuck the tip of each crescent underneath so the cookies don't unroll in the oven.
- Lucy's job is the cinnamon sugar. My daughter Lucy takes the sprinkling very seriously, one pinch per cookie, and honestly the cookies look better for it.
- Swap the filling. Raspberry jam with mini chocolate chips, or Nutella with chopped hazelnuts, both work. Keep the total filling about the same.
Rugelach Cookies
48
cookies40
minutes22
minutes105
kcal2
minutesClassic rugelach cookies: a tender, flaky cream cheese dough rolled into crescents around apricot jam, cinnamon sugar, chopped nuts and raisins, then baked until golden. Makes 48 cookies.
Ingredients
- For the cream cheese dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
8 ounces cold cream cheese, cubed
- For the filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
3/4 cup raisins or currants, finely chopped
1/2 cup apricot jam
- To finish
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (2 tablespoons sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
Directions
- Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter and cream cheese and pulse just until the dough forms large clumps. (No processor? Cut the butter and cream cheese in with a pastry cutter.)
- Turn the dough out, press it together and divide into 4 equal pieces. Shape each into a flat disc, wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Mix the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts and raisins in a bowl.
- Roll one disc on a lightly floured surface into a 9-inch circle. Spread with 2 tablespoons jam and sprinkle with a quarter of the filling, pressing it in lightly.
- Cut the circle into 12 wedges with a pizza cutter. Roll each wedge up from the wide end and set it point-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown, rotating the pans halfway. Cool on a wire rack.
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More Cookies for the Holiday Tin
Rugelach sit beautifully next to my easy sugar cookies and Vienna cookies on a cookie tray. For a quick bake with the kids, try snickerdoodle cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is rugelach?
Rugelach is a small rolled cookie from Jewish baking traditions. The name is often translated as 'little twists'. The American version uses a cream cheese dough rolled around fillings like jam, cinnamon sugar, nuts, raisins or chocolate.
Are arugula cookies the same as rugelach?
Yes, if you searched for 'arugula cookies' you almost certainly mean rugelach. The names sound alike, which is a common mix-up. Arugula is a peppery salad green and isn't in these cookies at all.
Can you make rugelach ahead of time?
Yes. The dough keeps 2 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. You can also freeze shaped, unbaked cookies on a tray, then bag them and bake from frozen, adding 3 to 5 minutes.
How do you store rugelach?
Keep baked rugelach in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, then warm for 5 minutes at 300°F to crisp them up.
Why did my rugelach unravel or leak?
Usually the dough got too warm, the filling was too thick, or the cookies baked point-side up. Chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes, use 2 tablespoons of jam per circle, and tuck the tips underneath.
🍪 Filling a cookie tin? Find more holiday baking recipes for the season.
