Looking for a tasty holiday treat? This raspberry rugelach cookie recipe is filled with raspberry jam, pecans, and cinnamon and wrapped in tender cream cheese cookie dough.
If you picture a hybrid between a croissant and a cookie, you might envision rugelach. These small cookies originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, especially in Poland. The Yiddish name rugelach translates to "little twists," referring to the cookie's rolled shape.
Today, they’re found worldwide yet remain especially popular in Israel, especially the old-fashioned variety, filled with chocolate and made with a yeasted dough. These kosher, dairy-free, and yeasted cookies are puffier and flakier.
The quicker approach I'm sharing here, more popular in America and Eastern Europe, uses a pastry dough made with equal parts butter and cream cheese. This creates a more tender cookie with a hint of appealing tanginess.
🍪 Why You'll Love These Raspberry Rugelach Cookies
- These rugelach are fruity and tangy, with a comforting hint of cinnamon and sugar.
- This recipe is more straightforward than the old-fashioned method and does not require extra time for the dough to rise.
- One batch yields about four dozen small cookies, which makes them excellent for baking around the holidays and sharing with friends and family.
For festive more holiday bakes, try these:
- No Bake Eggnog Cheesecake
- Cranberry Gingerbread Cake
- Red Wine Cupcakes
- Cranberry and White Chocolate Tart
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🧀 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make raspberry rugelach cookies.
Key Ingredients
- Raspberry jam - You can use your favorite raspberry jam or make your own by simmering raspberries and sugar until thickened and reduced. Here's more on how to make jam.
- Pecans - For adding a nice crunch to the cookies. Other nuts may be used as well.
- Cream cheese - An 8-ounce package is used with the butter to make the dough. This helps to keep the cookie dough tender and adds a little tang.
- Flour - Standard all-purpose flour is all you need.
- Butter - Two sticks of unsalted butter are needed for the dough.
- Cinnamon - For flavoring the filling.
- Brown sugar - To be mixed with the nuts and cinnamon for the cookie filling.
See the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.
🍫 Substitutions and Variations
- Chocolate: Sprinkle the rugelach dough with chopped chocolate after spreading the jam. This is my favorite variation. I love the fruit and chocolate combo.
- Raspberry walnut rugelach: Use an equal amount of walnuts instead of pecans.
- Apricot rugelach: After raspberry, apricot is my next favorite filling. Use your favorite apricot jam in place of raspberry.
- Multiflavored rugelach: Since the recipe makes four dozen cookies, why not make a few different flavors all with one batch of dough?
🥣 Instructions
How to make these rugelach cookies.
- Step 1: Cream the room temperature butter and cream cheese with a mixer until blended.
- Step 2: Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until a soft, cohesive dough has formed.
- Step 3: On parchment or a floured surface, divide the dough into four equal pieces and shape them into small discs. Wrap and refrigerate for an hour to rest and firm up the dough.
- Step 4: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll one of the pieces of dough out into a 10-inch round.
- Step 5: Mix the pecans, cinnamon, and brown sugar together.
- Step 6: Spread some of the raspberry jam over the dough.
- Step 7: Top with the pecan mixture.
- Step 8: Cut the dough into 12 pieces. Divide it into quarters and then each quarter into thirds.
- Step 9: Roll each piece up from the outside in. As you go, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining dough, jam, and filling.
- Step 10: Beat the egg in a bowl with a splash of water. Brush the rugelach with the egg, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
💡 Top Tips
- The dough needs a little time in the fridge to firm up—at least an hour—but you could also prep and store it in the fridge for up to a couple of days in advance.
- Don't worry about trying to shape each cookie perfectly and evenly. They will still taste great.
- Try not to overfill the cookies with jam (or chocolate, if using), as it may ooze out of the cookies as they bake.
🥣 Equipment
Mixer: A mixer will make the dough-making process easier, but it's possible to do it by hand if needed.
Rolling pin: To roll out the dough. In a pinch, use a wine or other large glass bottle.
🫙 Storage
At room temperature: The cookies will keep for up to a week at room temperature. If they get soft, which they tend to do, try crisping them back up by heating them at 300 degrees F for 5-10 minutes.
In the freezer: Baked or unbaked cookies may be frozen for 2-3 months when well-wrapped and stored in a freezer bag or container. Defrost unbaked cookies before baking and baked cookies before eating.
🙋🏻♀️ FAQ
Yes. Freeze unbaked rugelach on a tray, then transfer to a freezer bag when frozen. Defrost and bake as usual.
It is not necessary to refrigerate rugelach after baking. However, doing so may extend freshness for a few extra days.
The cream cheese makes this cookie dough softer than your typical dough, so it's completely normal. But you want to make sure to let the dough firm up in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out and handling. Flouring your surface before rolling will also help.
🫖 Pairing
These recipes would go well with rugelach cookies.
Print
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Rugelach
- Total Time: 1 hour (plus time for the dough to rest)
- Yield: about 4 dozen cookies 1x
Description
Looking for a tasty holiday treat? This raspberry rugelach cookie recipe is filled with raspberry jam, pecans, and cinnamon and wrapped in tender cream cheese cookie dough.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup raspberry jam
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese and butter until smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. A mixer makes this easier, though you can do it by hand as well. Stir in the salt and half of the sugar. Add the flour, a little at a time, until incorporated and a soft, cohesive dough has formed.
- Dump the dough onto a clean, lightly floured counter or piece of parchment and divide it into four even pieces. Use your hands to pat each piece into a small, roughly shaped round. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a couple of days.
- When ready to start forming the rugelach, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Take one round out of the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a thin, larger round, about 10-11 inches wide. Spread a quarter of the jam across the dough. Sprinkle over the pecan sugar mixture.
- With a knife, divide the round into twelve even pieces as if you were slicing a pizza. Start by dividing it into quarters, then each quarter into thirds. Starting with the outside edge and going inward, roll up each piece of dough. Place each onto the baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining rounds of dough.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg with a splash of water. Brush the rugelach with the egg wash. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar.
- Place the cookie filled baking sheets on racks in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Notes
Go light on the jam; otherwise, it may ooze out of the cookies as they bake.
Although not the typical shape, you can make these quicker by shaping each of the four pieces of dough into a rectangle instead of a round. Then, after spreading with jam and filling, roll the dough into a log and slice it into individual cookies.
These rugelach cookies may be kept at room temperature for up to a week, though the pastry will lose a little of its crispness over time.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Holidays
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Jewish
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Kristin Worthington says
These were super dope and so easy to make! The photos of you cutting the cookies and how you rolled them were incredibly helpful.
Steve says
Awesome! Happy to hear the photos were helpful. Thanks for sharing, Kristin.