As a traditional Jewish pastry recipe that originated in Eastern Europe, Rugelach Cookies with Cream Cheese Dough aren’t usually thought to be classic Christmas cookies in the United States. But no matter your cultural norms, Rugelach are fantastic cookies that will make a wonderful addition to your holiday baking list. This Rugelach recipe is a family recipe that’s been made yearly for over 80 years and I’m so excited for your family to start making it too.
What’s So Great About Rugelach?
There are two very important components to Rugelach: the pastry dough and the filling.
My Aunt Marie’s Rugelach is the very best Rugelach recipe I’ve eaten in many, many years. An incredibly tender and flaky cream cheese Rugelach dough sets the stage for a variety of fillings.
Consider this recipe an excellent cream cheese pastry dough base for whatever fillings your hungry heart can dream up. I’ve included instructions for how to make two of the very best fillings imaginable below in the recipe card – I know you’ll LOVE them!
But if you have other Rugelach fillings that you’ve loved in the past, you should absolutely fill this cream cheese Rugelach dough with them. Customizing a recipe like this one is truly one of the best parts of making homemade Rugelach cookies!
Holiday Season Baking Traditions
Every Christmas season, it’s my goal to not only dream up new recipes for Christmas cookies, but also to share family favorite cookies from my Italian, German, and Irish heritages.
In addition to spritz cookies, my Grandma’s rum balls, and Linzer cookies, these Rugelach cookies are a classic example of a long-time family favorite cookie.
My Aunt Marie gifted me with her beloved Rugelach recipe a few years before she passed away in 2022 at the age of 94. She had been making this Rugelach recipe since the 1940s and it’s such an honor that she emailed it to me in 2016.
Aunt Marie was famous for her rugelach. Everyone knew about it. Everyone asked if she would be making it for the Christmas season.
And there was rejoicing when she arrived with her tin of rugelach!
What is Rugelach?
Rugelach is a traditional Jewish cookie that is made with a cream cheese dough and filled with chocolate, jam, nuts, or raisins.
Rugelach cookies are usually rolled into a crescent shape, like a croissant. However, it can also be rolled into a long log, cut into spirals, like cinnamon rolls, and baked standing up.
While often made during the Jewish holidays, like Rosh Hashanah, Rugelach is also a popular cookie during the Christmas holiday season too. And my 100% Italian Aunt Marie loooooved making this Rugelach cookie recipe.
Easy Cream Cheese Rugelach
There are many opinions about what kind of dough makes the best rugelach. I’m going to say that I am by no means a rugelach expert but I do know what it takes to make a great cookie.
And in my extensive experience in making Christmas cookies over the past 30+ years, a cookie made with cream cheese dough is always a winner.
Cream cheese gives the dough some flexibility and tenderness that cannot be mimicked by butter or shortening alone.
This easy rugelach recipe is a cinch to make because you’ll use the food processor to make the cream cheese dough! Simply pulse all of the ingredients together in the food processor bowl, wrap up the dough, and chill to allow the dough to rest. So easy!!
Rugelach Cookie Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s the basic shopping list for this Rugelach recipe. Be sure to keep scrolling down to the recipe card below for the full printable Ingredients list!
- All-purpose flour
- Table salt
- Unsalted butter – at room temperature
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream
- Nutella
- Your favorite jam – Raspberry jam with the seeds works best here. See more information about rugelach with jam below.
- Pecans
- Raisins
- Orange liqueur – I use Grand Marnier but other orange liqueur will be good in these cookies too.
- Ground cinnamon
- Large egg
How to Make Rugelach Cookies
Here are the basic instructions for how to make the cream cheese dough for these cookies. Be sure to keep scrolling down to the recipe card below for the full set of Instructions!
The recipe card below also contains the steps for how to make the Nutella Raspberry Rugelach and the Rugelach with Pecans and Raisins versions that are shown in these photos.
STEP 1: Toast the chopped pecans on a large baking sheet in the oven.
STEP 2: Pulse the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and then add the butter, cream cheese, and sour cream. Continue to pulse until the dough just starts to come together. Pull the dough together into a ball on a work surface. Divide, wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill.
STEP 3: Using a rolling pin, roll out each dough square into a large rectangle. Layer your desired fillings on top of the dough, roll the dough into two logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill.
STEP 4: Unwrap one of the rugelach logs and using a sharp knife, slice it into 12 pieces. Repeat.
STEP 5: Place the pieces on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush the tops with egg wash.
STEP 6: Bake until the tops are glossy and golden brown. Cool the cookies completely on a wire cooling rack.
Rugelach Fillings
One of my favorite things about these cookies is that I get to customize the Rugelach fillings however I please! Here are a few of my favorite Rugelach fillings:
- Cinnamon sugar
- Nutella
- Jam: Raspberry, plum, cherry, four fruits, sugar plum, orange marmalade, black raspberry, apricot
- Chopped nuts: toasted pecans, walnuts, pistachios
- Raisins
- Chocolate filling: Mini chocolate chips, finely chopped dark chocolate
And best of all, feel free to mix and match your Rugelach fillings!
Simple Rugelach Cookies Shapes
Traditional Rugelach is rolled into little crescent shapes using a pizza cutter or a pastry cutter to cut the dough into triangles.
I find this technique to be a little tedious, and apparently so did my Aunt Marie because her instructions said to roll the filled cream cheese dough into a log. From there, she sliced the log into 8 to 12 pieces, like you cut cinnamon roll dough.
Either way you decide to shape the Rugelach, I promise they will turn out great so try not to stress about how to shape them too much!
How to Store Rugelach
The best way to store these cookies to keep them staying fresh is in an airtight container at room temperature. They will stay soft for about 7 days.
What to Serve with Rugelach Cookies
Seeing as this is a really fantastic holiday cookie recipe, my guess is that you’re probably going to want to include them on your holiday cookie exchanges, holiday platters, and cookie tins.
If you’re up for hosting holiday cheer in your home, you’re definitely going to want to add these cream cheese rugelach to a charcuterie holiday dessert board and serve them alongside a batch of your favorite Christmas cocktails.
And, if you have a houseful of coffee lovers, why not teach them how to make a latte at home. My Starbucks eggnog latte recipe, caramel brûlée latte, and my gingerbread latte would all be excellent hot lattes to go with this holiday season cookie recipe.
Rugelach Cookies with Cream Cheese Dough
Rugelach Cookies with Cream Cheese Dough are a traditional Jewish pastry that have been embraced over the years as a popular Christmas cookie. My Aunt Marie made this Rugelach Cookies recipe for decades and gifted me with her recipe before she passed away in 2022. It's infinitely adaptable but my two favorite Rugelach fillings are outlined below for you to love as much as I do.
Ingredients
For the cream cheese dough:
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp table salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 tbsp sour cream
For the filling and baking:
- ¼ cup Nutella
- 2 tbsp raspberry jam
- 2 tbsp four fruits jam (like Bonne Maman)
- ⅓ cup pecan halves, chopped semi-finely (leave a few chunks)
- ½ cup raisins
- 2 tbsp Grand Marnier (or another orange liqueur)
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp water (the egg wash for baking)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Place chopped pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 4 minutes. Stir the nuts and bake for 1 to 2 more minutes, just until they start to look toasted and begin to smell delicious. Transfer the nuts to a bowl to cool. Turn the oven off.
- To make the cream cheese rugelach dough: Meanwhile, pulse the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade. Add the butter and cream cheese in large cubes along with the sour cream. Pulse quickly 6 to 8 times and then for longer pulses just until the dough comes together in large curds. Don’t over-pulse or the dough will turn out tough. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and bring it together with your hands into a ball. Divide the dough in half and pat each half into a square on a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and freeze for 15 minutes or chill for 1 hour.
- Roll out each dough square into a 12x8-inch rectangle. This can be done easily without a big mess between two pieces of parchment paper or with the dough between a piece of parchment on the bottom and the plastic wrap on top (you’ll roll the dough between the parchment and plastic wrap). Keep the long side of the rectangle closest to you.
Heat the Grand Marnier in a heatproof bowl in the microwave for 25 seconds, or until it just starts to steam. Mix in the raisins to fully coat them with the liqueur. Set aside, stirring occasionally. - To make the Nutella raspberry rugelach: On one of the pieces of rolled-out dough, spread the Nutella in an even layer to the edges, leaving about ¼-inch of dough showing at the long, far side. Spread the raspberry jam over the top of the Nutella. Starting from the long side closest to you, roll the dough into a tight log away from you, gently pressing the naked edge together with the dough at the end of the roll. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes.
- To make the pecan raisin rugelach: On the other piece of rolled-out dough, spread the four fruits jam in an even layer to the edges, leaving about ¼-inch of dough showing at the long, far side.
- Drain the raisins (discard the leftover liqueur). Sprinkle the toasted pecans in an even layer over the jam, followed by the raisins and then the cinnamon. Starting from the long side closest to you, roll the dough into a tight log away from you, gently pressing the naked edge together with the dough at the end of the roll. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Ready the egg wash and a pastry brush.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Ready two large baking sheets with parchment paper. - To bake both types of rugelach: Unwrap one of the rugelach logs and using a sharp knife, slice it into 12 1-inch wide pieces. (Cut the log in half, then each half in half, then each quarter into 3 pieces.) Line the pieces up in 2 long rows of 6 on one of the baking sheets. Brush the tops with egg wash. Repeat with the second roll of dough while you bake the first pan in Step 10 below.
- Bake one pan of the rugelach for 18 minutes on the middle rack, rotate the pan front to back, and continue baking for 12 to 15 minutes more. The tops should be shiny and almost deep golden brown. Some of the rugelach will have fallen over and will look like pinwheels, and some will remain standing - both ways are perfectly fine. The centers of the rugelach should be slightly firm when gently pressed.
- Remove the pan from the oven, allow the rugelach to cool for 5 to 7 minutes, and transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat Steps 10 and 11 with the second pan of rugelach.
Do Ahead: The dough can be made and frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a freezer bag, for up to 1 month.
Storage: Store the baked and cooled rugelach in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 1 week.
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