Raspberry Rugelach Cookies Recipe (Step By Step!) (2024)

Created By:Heather on October 29, 2023 | Updated: December 21, 2023

Learn how to make these raspberry rugelach cookies in this step by step baking tutorial! With a cream cheesy pastry that is flaky and buttery, then rolled with a cinnamon pecan raspberry filling, these one of my all time favorite cookies!

Where has the time gone? Another year is over? Seriously? I think back on the year, and the people that have come and gone from my life.Asthe new year approaches, I can’t help but get a littlenostalgic.And when I get nostalgic, I bake. Ok I bake for a lot of reasons. Just add nostalgia to the list. Feeling nostalgic, I wanted to share with you a recipe that was passed on down from my paternal grandmother. Raspberry Rugelach.

The story goes, she did not havethe jam and filling the rugelach recipe called for and improvised. Being a women who went through the depression, improvisation in the kitchen I am sure was second nature. She worked withwhat she had- and what did she have? Raspberry jam. Now she would use walnuts but I decided to make it my own and use pecans this year.

It isnow a tradition to have a rugelach cookie on the cookie platter each Christmas.

What Is A Rugelach Cookie?

If you are unfamiliar with rugelach, let me enlighten you a little. According to the almighty Wikipedia, rugelach is a Jewish pastry, typically made with cream cheese and are made into a little crescent shape in that a triangle of sweet pastry dough is rolled around a nut filling.

Urban legend has it, that this little cookie and the French croissant share a common Viennese ancestry and was created to commemorate the end of a Turkish siege (possibly a reference to the Battle of Vienna?). But that’s all just an urban legend. Who’s to say.

Either way, this cookie is one that I absolutely crave starting, oh, right around the day after Thanksgiving and waning only until the 26th of December.

See Also:

• Pucker up and enjoy one of these homemade lemon cookies with easy lemon glaze drizzled over them!
• Coconut macaroons are an easy gluten free chewy coconut cookie. Dip in chocolate for an easy chocolate treat!
• Grab a jar of peanut butter and make these wonderfully easy old fashioned peanut butter cookies with criss cross pattern on top!
• Make these brown sugar chocolate chips cookies made with 100% brown sugar making them wonderfully chewy!

Why You Will Love This Raspberry Rugelach Recipe

• Great make ahead Christmas cookie
• Perfect cookie recipe for special occasions
• Can make the dough ahead of time
• Wonderful cookie to freeze

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Ingredients Needed

For the full recipe and directions scroll to the bottom for the recipe card.

For the dough:

• 1 8- ounce package cream cheese– You want the cream cheese at room temperature.
• 1/3cup(67 g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoonsvanilla extract
• 3/4teaspoonsalt
• 2 1/2 cups(300 g) all-purpose flourplus more for dusting– Be sure to measure your flour correctly.
• 1 cup (2 sticks, 227 g) unsalted butter– Cut the butter into cubes. You want to use cold butter so you get a flaky cream cheese dough.

For the filling

• 3/4 cup (86 g) pecans– You want to toast the pecans first then chop them after.
• 1 cup (255 g) raspberry preserves– Use a thick raspberry preserve or raspberry cake filling. You want to use thick preserves so the filling doesn’t leak.
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 2 tablespoons turbinado (raw) sugar

How To Make Rugelach

Prepare cookie sheets with sheets of parchment paper or silicone baking mat.

Pulse the cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until smooth.

Add the flour and butter; pulse until the butter is in pea-size pieces.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces; pat into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour.

​You can always make this dough in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the dough together on low speed.

Remove one portion of the rugelach dough from the refrigerator. Keep the second batch in the refrigerator while you prepare the first batch.

Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature for a few minutes to make it easier to roll. Using a lightly floured rolling pin roll out the dough into an 12-inch circle onto a lightly floured surface.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon for the filling in a small bowl and set aside.

Spread a thin layer of jam (about 1/3 cup) and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture , 1/3 of the pecans on each dough round in a ring, leaving a 1/2-inch border.

Using a sharp knife, pastry wheel, or pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 equal wedges.

Starting at the wide end (outside of the circle), roll each wedge toward the point (towards the middle of the dough) to form crescent shapes.

Arrange each cookie 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes (this will help with the jam from leaking and the pastry from spreading).

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (177°C). Make an egg wash by whisking together in a small bowl the egg and water. Brush tops of dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake cookies until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes until pastry is golden brown. Some jam may leak from the pastries while baking, this is normal. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining portions of dough and finish making rest of cookies.

Recipe Tips

• Careful using that food processor. You don’t want the dough to form one cohesive ball of dough, which means the butter becomes too incorporated and warmed up. This dough is similar to making pie dough so you do not want to work the dough that much so it stays nice and tender.
• When dividing the dough into 3 discs, I recommend using a kitchen scale so the dough is divided evenly.
• The dough does need to be chilled. But you can do this overnight if you would like and split the recipe up over two days.
• When taking the dough out of the fridge, especially if its been in overnight, give it a whack with a rolling pin a few times to soften it up a bit before rolling it out.
• Rolling into a perfect circle can be tough. I like to use a pastry mat to ensure the circle is large enough. And when it’s about the right size, I then will cut off areas that are larger and smoosh them into areas that aren’t quite circular to make a perfect circle.
• Use a thick preserves jam. You want to use a thick jam so the filling doesn’t leak.
• Do not use too much filling – If you spread on too much filling it will leak out during the baking process.

Recipe Variations

• Use a different fruit preserves– Instead of raspberry preserves, try using a variety of fillings like apricot or strawberry.
• Sprinkle on chopped chocolate– Make raspberry chocolate rugelach instead! You can omit the pecan and sprinkle on a little chopped bittersweet chocolate before rolling up the cookies.
• Add a little orange zest– Add a teaspoon of orange zest to the filling
• Make a homemade raspberry filling– You can combine 1 pound fresh raspberries and 1 cup granulated sugar in a saucepan on the stovetop. Cook down the raspberries until thick– about 20 minutes. Allow to cool before using.

Recipe FAQs

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