Rugelach, not to be confused with arugula (a lovely peppery green), is a traditional Jewish pastry. To pronounce correctly, you should sound like you’re coughing up phlegm at the end.
Rugelach is the perfect thing to make this time of year. First of all, you can use it for Hannukah or Christmas because everyone loves it. You can make a huge batch and bring to both houses like us, one Jewish (sorta), one not. My Chinese family got addicted to rugelach from eating the giant boxes from Costco, which are dangerously good. Secondly, in December, fresh fruits are not very good in New York, so jams, preserves, and dried fruits are what’s in season.
Rugelach are in between pastry and cookie, a little crumbly, but also rich and a little doughy. They’re dense and combine the flavors of fruity and nutty, laced with cinnamon. Very addictive. The two-bite size is tricky cause you feel like you’re not eating that much, but they are quite caloric.
I first started making rugelach about 10 years ago, before culinary school and all, but I have no idea where I got the recipe from. The early favorite has been tweaked many times over the years, till I got my perfect version(s), which may be a tad less sweet than most, but it did get Lon’s family’s (Jewish) stamp of approval. It’s a very versatile recipe, and I like to make a batch using different flavors of jams, or alternating the nuts. You’ll see the many “or” options in the recipe.
Rugelach
~ 48 individual pastries
- 1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots or raisins
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds
- 3/4 cup jam or preserves (strawberry, raspberry, apricot, blackberry, etc.)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
- turbinado as needed
Instructions –
1. Cream butter and sugar together with the paddle attachment on a mixer. Add flour and salt and mix until well combined.
2. Divide the dough into 6 equal disks and wrap them in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. (You can make it the day before if you want.)
3. While dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, toss together sugar, cinnamon, dried fruit of choice, and nut of choice. Set aside.
4. When the dough is ready, remove one piece from the fridge at a time, as you are using. Roll out disk between two pieces of plastic wrap, into an 8″ circle.
5. Spread 2 tablespoons of jam/preserves on the circle dough.
6. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of cinnamon/sugar/fruit/nut mix.
7. Cut into 8 wedges like a pizza.
8. Roll each piece from the outside edge in, as pictured. Place point side down on an un-greased cookie sheet, two inches apart.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for remaining dough. You can use different flavors of jam/preserves for each circle (8 pieces) if you want.
10. In a small bowl, mix together egg yolk and water. Brush on top of each rugelach. Sprinkle with turbinado.
11. Bake for 15 minutes on the top shelf, or until golden. Remove from oven and cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. (If you wait too long, they may be harder to get off the cookie sheet.) Carefully remove to a cooling rack with a spatula. Cool and serve warm or room temperature.
Loved it! brought it home and the boys devoured it!
Yum–looks delicious!
Your rugelach is perfect! I need to make some soon, haven’t made them in a while!
these sound great – I usually make mine with cottage cheese – but i was looking for a cream cheese version so I’ll give these a try.
As a lazy baker – I roll my dough into rectangles, then fill and roll into logs and slice into 1 or 1 1/2-inch cookies – they come out looking more like little barrels than crescents but they taste just as good.
Those look beautiful. Not good to look at on an empty stomach!
Helen, come back again! There’s more.
Carol, I was debating rolling it in logs, but I’ve always done it this way…
oh my, i could never confuse rugelach with arugula. never ever. it happens to be the cookie that i make a beeline for on any dessert buffet table. these are splendid!
Mmmm I have made rugelach once before and it was delicious. Yours looks fabulous!!
I love Rugelach! And it’s good to know your recipe yields 48 scrumptious bites. Just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.
I’ve never heard of it, but it looks great!
Ooo…like little crossiants…except with fruity and nutty fillings. Great for party as finger foods!
Your rugelach are very pretty! I’d like to make a version with poppy seed filling, which is my favorite.
A client made and brought these in for us.. They were delicious. I had to contain myself from getting more one and share with the rest of my co-workers.. I had to walk away. Happy to have found your recipe. Giving it a try. Thank you for sharing!.