This easy recipe for cinnamon rugelach are made with a delicious filling loaded with cinnamon, walnuts, and dried cranberries. We make these cookies every year for the holidays and everybody loves them. The rolling and filling method is simplified, making this recipe faster and easier to follow.
These cinnamon rugelach cookies are popular on cookie platters and at cookie exchanges during the holidays. The cream cheese dough is easy to work with and so forgiving. And the filling with cinnamon and dried cranberries is festive without being fussy or overthought.
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Rugelach Cookie Ingredients
Rugelach cookies have two key components: an easy cream cheese dough and a filling. The dough is always the same, made of cream cheese, butter, flour, and salt, but the filling varies depending on the recipe.
You will need the following ingredients to make the best rugelach:
- For the cream cheese dough:
- butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add a lot of salt to the dough, from both fine kosher salt and cream cheese. If you have salted, it will work. Adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly or your cookies may be too salty...
- cream cheese, preferably the Philadelphia brand regular cream cheese sold in a block format. This recipe uses the entire block. Do not use the cream cheese in the tub or whipped cream cheese.
- all-purpose flour is needed to bind all the cream cheese dough ingredients together and give structure to the cookies. If you don't use enough flour, your cookies may spread too much as they bake
- salt is really important to balance out the sweet filling and enhance the savoury nature of the cream cheese dough. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the cookies will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
- For the rugelach filling:
- nuts—be sure to toast the nuts in the filling ahead of time
- dried cranberries—dried cherries or dried apricots will also work
- granulated sugar is used, though brown sugar would also work here and adding more flavour to the filling.
- ground cinnamon is added to the filling to make these cookies very flavourful
- cream is needed to bind the filling together but also to help the tops of the cookies brown and to help glue the cinnamon sugar coating on the surface of the cookies
- vanilla extract adds a ton of flavour to the filling. Don't skimp on it. If you are using an artificial vanilla extract, that will work too but you may have to use less because it tends to be more potent than the real extract.
- For the topping and to make the cookies sparkle:
- cinnamon sugar is the secret to making the cookies sparkle on top, adding a little more flavour since the dough is plain and unsweetened. You can buy it or make cinnamon sugar yourself!
Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
Rugelach are always made with the same cream cheese dough. It is a savoury dough, made without sugar, that has a slightly tangy flavour from the cream cheese. The dough really helps the filling shine, so I wouldn't modify that part of the recipe.
The filling is where you can get creative. Traditional rugelach cookies are filled with jam, cinnamon sugar, or a filling of cinnamon sugar with ground nuts. You may also see chocolate-filled rugelach. The ingredients are ground together in the bowl of a food processor to make a coarse filling that resembles wet sand.
To modify the filling:
- nut-free rugelach: replace the toasted walnuts with the same amount of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
- cranberries: replace the dried cranberries with the same amount of dried cherries, apricots, or your favourite dried fruit
Other fillings you can try:
- chocolate filling made from chopped chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon
- Nutella (or your homemade nutella without hazelnuts)
- jam or homemade preserves, like this plum jam or a classic apricot jam filling would be great here!
How to Make Rugelach
Traditionally, most bakers create crescent-shaped rugelach cookies, rolling triangles of dough and filling like croissants, but I've found the method takes too much time. My results this way weren't always as nice and the cookies tended to vary too much in size and shape, making baking them properly very tricky. This method makes it much easier and faster to make these cookies. And the shape and size are more consistent.
I have made this recipe every Christmas for the last twenty years and tested a few different ways to shape the cookies. Over the years, I've changed many steps to streamline the process and make the recipe more consistent, easier, and faster.
Step 1: Start by making the cream cheese dough. Combine softened butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer (image 1) and mix until the two ingredients are well mixed, soft and creamy (image 2). Add flour and salt to the mixer bowl (image 3) and mix to form a shaggy but well-mixed dough (image 4).
Step 2: Once the dough comes together, divide it into 4 equal pieces with the help of a kitchen scale (image 5), shaping each into a square and wrapping in plastic wrap (image 6) to chill in the refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour (image 7).
Tip: Chilling the dough is important to give the flour time to hydrate, the gluten to relax, and to cool down the butter so that you can roll the dough easily. Cold doughs also help ensure the cookies don't spread.
Step 3: Combine the ingredients for the filling in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal S-blade (image 8) and process into a fairly medium–fine texture (image 9).
Step 4: Roll out each portion of dough to roughly a 7x13 inch (18x33 cm) rectangle (image 10), trimming the edges to straighten them (and patch if necessary). Scatter one-quarter of the filling from edge to edge, pressing it into the dough to anchor all the little bits (image 11). Roll the dough as tightly as possible into a 13-inch (33-cm) log (image 12). Make sure to finish the roll seam-side down so that the seam is under the log of dough.
Tip: These rugelach are rolled and cut the same way you would sticky buns (check out these Crock-Pot cinnamon rolls for more information on cutting rolled doughs like this). The longest part of this recipe is the hands-off time when the dough is chilling and the cookies are in the oven baking.
Step 5: brush the roll of dough with cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, then use a ruler or a measuring tape as your guide to mark the dough evenly. You can cut the log into 12 to 14 equal portions, creating slits every inch or so (~2.5 cm) (image 13). Then, cut the dough into cookies using a large chef's knife or a bench scraper (image 14).
Step 6: Place the rugelach cookies upright on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan (image 15), spacing them out and staggering them to allow for airflow. Bake until golden brown (image 16) and baked through. The center of each cookie should look set and baked.
Baking Tips for Rugelach
The fillings for rugelach tend to be heavy in sugar, dried fruit (or jam), spices, and nuts. The trouble with rugelach is that these tasty fillings can burn in the oven if you aren't careful, while the center of the cookie may remain doughy.
You'll notice from the photos that I bake the rugelach standing upright. I don't lay them on their side. There are a few reasons for this:
- to ensure the dried cranberries and nuts don't burn
- to ensure the cookies keep their shape and that the swirl of dough and filling doesn't unravel
If you choose to shape these rugelach cookies the way I've outlined, make sure to bake the cookies standing up, with the seam hidden underneath on the bottom. The weight of the cookie ensures that the seam doesn't unravel. Do not lay the cookies down flat to bake them!
Bake rugelach on light-coloured half-sheet pans (the basic kind used in restaurants) lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 25 to 30 minutes until evenly browned and set in the middle. The bottoms should be a deep golden brown but not burnt.
Rugelach FAQ
Babka and rugelach are both baked goods with a swirled interior, made from layers of dough and filling that are rolled together. Though the fillings used may be similar, the doughs are quite different, as is the category of baked goods. Babka is a rich, fluffy bread made from an enriched yeasted dough (enriched with butter, eggs, some sugar, and milk). It may be baked in a loaf or a round pan to slice (like this dark chocolate babka), or baked in smaller individual portions in a muffin pan (like these mini chocolate babkas). On the other hand, rugelach are much smaller, more like a cookie, made from a tender cream cheese dough (may be flaky like pie crust). Rugelach are often shaped like croissants, though this varies.
Store rugelach in an air-tight container for up to 1 month in a cool dry place. For longer storage, I recommend freezing them after baking and cooling completely. To freeze rugelach, place them on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan in the freezer until frozen solid, then transfer to a freezer bag (air removed). Defrost rugelach in the refrigerator overnight and then transfer to a container at room temperature. Make sure the cookies stay dry.
Other Cranberry Recipes
Cranberries make such a lovely tart addition to many baking recipes. Here are a few other cranberry recipes to try:
If you tried this rugelach cookie recipe (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon rugelach with dried cranberries and walnots
Ingredients
Cream cheese dough
- 230 grams unsalted butter room temperature
- 250 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular) 1 block
- 375 grams bleached all-purpose flour
- 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
Cinnamon rugelach filling with dried cranberries
- 170 grams walnuts lightly toasted
- 160 grams dried cranberries
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 10 mL ground cinnamon
- 20 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
- 10 mL pure vanilla extract
Cinnamon sugar topping
- 30 mL whipping cream (35 % fat)
- 30 mL cinnamon sugar
Instructions
Cream cheese dough
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Shape each piece of dough into a square. Wrap and chill dough for at least 2 hours.
Cinnamon rugelach filling with dried cranberries
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine walnuts with dried cranberries, sugar, cinnamon, cream, and vanilla extract. Pulse the mixture until it is ground fairly fine and evenly mixed. The filling will resemble coarse, wet sand.
How to shape & bake cinnamon rugelach
- Preheat oven to 350 ℉ (175 ℃). Line a couple of sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into a rectangle that is approximately 7x13 inches (18x33 cm) on a lightly floured surface.
- Sprinkle one quarter of the cranberry filling mixture generously over the surface of the dough and press lightly to anchor the filling. Roll it tightly into a 13-inch (33 cm) log, setting it seam-side down.
- Brush the log with cream and sprinkle the top generously with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cut into 12 or 13 pieces (roughly cut every 1 inch or 2.5 cm).
- Transfer rugelach to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them about an inch, keeping the seam-side of each cookie down and placing each cookie standing upright on the cookie sheets.
- Bake cookies until they are golden brown (this takes at least 25–30 minutes). You want the cream cheese dough to bake completely, the seam side and tops of the cookies should be golden brown and the center of the cookies completely baked and set.
Notes
- nut-free rugelach: replace the toasted walnuts with the same amount of pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
- cranberries: replace the dried cranberries with the same amount of dried cherries, apricots, or your favourite dried fruit
- chocolate filling made from chopped chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon
- Nutella (or your homemade nutella without hazelnuts)
- jam or homemade preserves, like this plum jam or a classic apricot jam filling would be great here!
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