How to Make Rugelach

My favorite Hanukkah cookie takes a second bow

One of my most-read posts of 2020 was about rugelach, the beloved rolled cookie that shows up on so many holiday tables at this time of year. It’s particularly traditional on the Hanukkah dessert tray but also at other Jewish holidays.

When I hemmed and hawed about needing to write something new for the 8-day holiday, arriving tonight at sundown, my husband Jeff said, “Well Hanukkah isn’t new, is it?”

Hardly—only 2,000 years old or so, though I doubt rugelach were on the menu back then! Like all good recipes, it’s worth making again and again—and I do. It involves a number of steps, but the results are worth it! So here again is my favorite rugelach recipe—plus a little bit of background. The recipe comes at the end.

Happy baking—and Happy Hanukkah!

Cookies sprinkled with blue sugar and almond macaroons with nut or cherry centers—those are the Hanukkah cookies I remember from childhood. But in recent years, rugelach have become the stars of my holiday cookie plate and probably my favorite cookies, both to make and to eat.

It was a bit of serendipity that I became enamored of these twisty little cookies that look like mini croissants or, if you buy them at Canter’s Deli in the Los Angeles Fairfax District, like small, jam- or chocolate-filled pieces of strudel.

Rugelach in the cookie case at Canter’s Deli.

One day about 15 years ago, I happened to hear celebrated cookbook author Dorie Greenspan on NPR telling the story of how she learned to make rugelach from her mother-in-law during the first year of her marriage. The recipe she described sounded so delightful that I went out and bought the book she was touting, Baking: From My Home to Yours. I’ve been making and sharing these delectable, easily adaptable treats ever since.

Rugelach, both the Yiddish word and the sweet itself, probably originated in Poland, where there was a crescent-shaped pastry called a rogale.

Latke Love

Like latkes (see the link above) and the custom of serving fried foods at Hanukkah to commemorate the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days instead of one, here are biblical explanations for serving rugelach and other dairy foods during this holiday.

Unlike the Hanukkah story of the Maccabees, which is all about brave male warriors, this is a feminist tale about Judith, a beautiful widow in the Judean town of Bethulia some 2,500 years ago. Under siege by the Assyrians, the town’s Jewish citizens were ready to give up when Judith managed to charm her way into the company of the Assyrian general Holofernes. She proceeded to feed him a meal of salty cheese that caused him to slake his thirst with wine and fall into a deep slumber. Judith then grabbed his sword and cut off his head, causing the now leaderless Assyrians to flee and saving the town and its people.

Instead of feeding our enemies salty cheese, on Hanukkah we feed it to ourselves in the form of dairy products and cream cheese-enriched pastry! Hopefully no enemies will take advantage—perhaps they’d be mollified by a plate of rugelach!

But honestly, you don’t need to know your bible stories to make and enjoy these cookies!

Rugelach for a Hanukkah party in 2019.

Though not really difficult, the recipe involves a lot of steps, especially if you fill the cookies with all Dorie’s suggested ingredients. I think the results are worth the effort. But if you just want to make the dough, fill with your favorite jam, roll in sugar and bake, they will still be great! The dough itself delicious.

Again, as with latkes, there are shortcuts that may render the work a little easier, particularly when it comes to making the trademark cream cheese dough. Dorie makes hers in a food processor. That can be a bit messy, especially if you have a small processor, as I do, and some of the flour escapes onto the counter and into your face! Still, it’s less time-consuming than using a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter and cream cheese into the dough.

Dorie Greenspan’s Rugelach Recipe

One half of the dough is covered with a chocolate spread and pecans, the other with apricot jam, chopped dried apricots and chocolate chips. The circle is cut into 16 wedges and rolled into crescents from the outside edge toward the point.

Though Dorie’s suggested fillings include apricot and raspberry jam or marmalade, I’ve subbed Nutella (my husband’s favorite!), pineapple jam (from a farmer’s market in Hilo, Hawaii), blueberry preserves, and lemon curd. I’ve even tried peanut butter and jelly! In other words, variations are limited only by the imagination of the baker.

Below is Dorie Greenspan’s rugelach recipe, which makes about 32 cookies. It involves a few steps, but you can spread them out over two days, making the dough the day before and the cookies the next. I usually double or triple it and freeze leftovers—if there are any!

If you have access to the New York Times, here’s a link to the recipe here. It offers a suggestion on how to make larger rugelach from dough shaped into a rectangle instead of a circle. (Basically, you roll up the dough like a jelly roll and slice it crosswise into pieces.)

For the Dough:

4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces

1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

2/3 cup raspberry or apricot jam or marmalade (or other jam or filling)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped nuts (I usually use pecans or walnuts)

1/4 cup plump, moist currants

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Glaze:

1 large egg

1 teaspoon cold water

2 tablespoons sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar

To make the dough in a food processor:

• Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes so they are slightly softened but still cool.

• Put he flour and salt in a food processor, scatter the chunks of butter and cheese on top, and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds—don’t work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.

• Turn the dough out, and gather it into a ball. (Sometimes, if it’s a bit dry and crumbly, you may have to knead it by hand a couple of times to help it stick together, possibly dribbling a few drops of water into the dough just to moisten it a little). Divide it in half, shaping each half into a disk. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Note: If you want to make the dough by hand, just handle it as you would a pie dough, using either a pastry blender or cutting in the butter and cream cheese with two knives, then briefly kneading the dough together into a manageable ball.

A double recipe of rugelach dough

To make the filling:

• Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave until it liquifies. (I sometimes skip this step.)

• Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a separate small bowl.

• Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

• Measure out other ingredients—chopped nuts, currants or other dried fruit, and chocolate chips—and put them in small bowls, separately.

To shape the cookies:

• Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it’s too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle (I used to measure, but usually I just gauge whether I think the dough is the right thickness and size).

• I usually roll the dough on the plastic it was wrapped in, with another piece of plastic on top. It’s not so ecological to use so much plastic, but it does prevent sticking. I then remove the top sheet of plastic after the dough has reached the correct diameter.

Notes: Recently, I received a silicon mat as a gift and found that it made a fine surface for rolling out the dough. If the dough softens too much after being rolled out, put it back in the fridge for a few minutes to stiffen it. That will make it easier to shape into the crescents.

Dorie’s suggested layers:

1. Spoon or brush a thin gloss of jam over the dough, leaving about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of edge on the perimeter.

2. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mix over the jam.

3. Scatter half the chopped nuts over the jam.

4. Sprinkle the currants over the nuts.

5. Last, scatter the chopped chocolate or chips.

• Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and press gently to secure it. Save the wax paper for the next batch.

• Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 pieces—beginning by cutting it into quarters, then dividing each quarter into four wedges (a great math lesson!).

• Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent.

• Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet, making sure that the points are tucked under. Refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking. The unbaked cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.

The final steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• Stir together the egg and water. Brush some of the glaze over each cookie, then sprinkle or roll the cookies in the sugar.

• Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. They should be puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the cookies emerge from the oven surrounded by a puddle of brown liquid—melted butter and caramel from the dough. After the cookies cool, that liquid turns to a delicious sliver of hard caramelized sugar, with bits of chocolate, currants, nuts or whatever filling you used embedded in the crackly shards. Nice for a nibble!

The cookies keep for three or four days at room temperature, according to Dorie, but I prefer to freeze them in airtight freezer bags, assuming they aren’t immediately consumed or given away. Rugelach would also be perfect on your Christmas cookie plate!

Thanks for reading my latest edition of Ruth Talks Food. If you enjoyed it, please click “like” and send me a comment. Also, please subscribe to receive future posts—and don’t forget to check out my previous posts on latkes, challah, blintzes, kugel, and hamantaschen.