These bright, sweet-tart beauties are the perfect addition to the typical cookie plate. Adding orange zest and salt to store-bought jam gives the filling an extra dimension of flavor without creating a lot of extra fuss. Plus, rather than shape each rugelach individually, we form a log, then cut it into wedges. Not only is this method easier to execute, but it also reveals more of the jammy, nutty insides.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 18–22
Ingredients
2½
¼
½
2
1
8
1½
1
½
1
Special Equipment
Preparation
Step 1
Mix flour, baking powder, ¼ cup granulated sugar, and 1 tsp. salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low speed to combine. Add butter and beat until it is flattened into nickel- and dime-size pieces and dry ingredients look a bit like sand, about 2 minutes. Cut cream cheese into 8–10 pieces and add all at once to mixer. Beat until dough starts to clump together in pieces (but not so long that it forms one large mass) with pieces of butter and some cream cheese still visible, about 1 minute longer.
Step 2
Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide in half. Pat each into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Chill just until firm, 30–45 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, mix together orange zest, nuts, jam, and remaining 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl. Set filling aside.
Step 4
Working one at a time, roll out dough between 2 lightly floured sheets of parchment paper, dusting with more flour and turning over and rotating as needed, into ⅛"-thick ovals about 18x11". Spread half of filling over each oval, leaving a ½" border. Rotate dough so a long side is closest to you and roll up into a tight spiral, using parchment to help you lift it as you go. If dough is sticking, chill 5 minutes before proceeding. Chill rolled-up dough until firm, at least 60 minutes and up to 1 day (wrapped in plastic).
Step 5
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Finely grind raspberries in spice mill or with mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small bowl; mix in remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar. Brush tops of dough with egg. Sprinkle with half of berry sugar and cut into wedges 2" wide at the base and ½" wide at the point. Make each cut on a diagonal, changing direction each time so that short and wide ends alternate. Divide rugelach between 2 parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until deep golden brown, 28–34 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets, sprinkling with remaining berry sugar while still warm.
Step 6
Do Ahead: Cookies can be baked 5 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
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Reviews (38)
Back to TopI’ve made these a few times; they’re always a hit, they’re beautiful and wow my friends, family and coworkers, and I think they beat the pants off any other holiday-time treat. That said, I never seem to learn my lessons, so I figure I’ll leave them here in a comment: 1) Refrigerate for at LEAST 45 minutes before rolling out the dough, be generous flouring the dough, and start your roll by hitting the dough with your rolling pin to stretch it out. (YouTube if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) Before I realized this, I would always struggle to stretch the dough to 18 inches in one direction, but banging gets it to at least 14 with no issue. Then as it warms I can roll it and expand it in both directions. And be sure to flip and flour the dough as you roll, as the recipe directs; otherwise, it will stick to the parchment. 2) Finely chopping the nuts is key. If you don’t, the nut chunks will tear your dough when you spread the jam-nut mixture. I keep forgetting this. Seriously, consider using a food processor. 3) A little extra jam will probably make spreading the filling to cover the dough easier. Again, I always forget this. But there is enough in the recipe as written.
Zadie Shea
New York, NY
12/3/2023
This recipe did not work for me at all! All of my rugelach completely fell over during baking and the raspberry sugar topping burned so they just looked like burned pinwheel cookies. They taste okay, but I also think the zest of an entire orange is a bit overpowering and I would have maybe used half. Would love to know what baking settings were used by those who were able to bake without burning the topping.
Jen S
Chicago, IL
12/17/2020
I've been wanting to try these since they came out several seasons ago, but had been dissuaded because I was nervous about rolling out the dough. Although my ovals were a bit cracked at the edges, I think it was okay. I agree with some others that there seemed to not be quite enough filling to spread it evenly to the edges, although I may attribute this to my walnuts not being finely chopped enough. If I make these again I might even pulse them in the food processor to chop. I used strawberry rhubarb jam and freeze dried strawberries for the top dusting. Love the orange zest addition-totally essential. I think I got 21-22 cookies out of the two rolls, although I was skeptical when I first began to cut them. It is hard to not fixate on what we make coming out looking like the Bon Appetit photos, but sometimes you have to get beyond that and enjoy the sweet treat. Having said that, my sugar dusting didn't burn, although it did get a little dark, but I think I should have pulled them a couple minutes sooner. I enjoyed that these were not overly sweet. I've never made rugelach before, but I look forward to trying it again. These do seem like they'd travel well, which is certainly a boon for 2020, as many of us will likely be mailing cookies in lieu of in-person get togethers.
Natalie Matz
Omaha,NE
11/29/2020
I followed the recipe, but opted to dust the cookies with the raspberry-sugar at the end after reading the other reviews. I liked them, but would not add the salt to the Jam/Zest again as it made the filling too salty and destroyed the brightness of the fruit flavor. (Might not be the same with every jam, but it was the case with mine)
WineCountryBaker
3/31/2020
Impressive looking cookie, Not too difficult to make. A few suggestions -- Like one of the other reviewers, my sugar and freeze dried raspberries burned in the oven. I would just put it on after coming out of the oven. Also, I found the amount of filling suggested in the recipe was not sufficient -- added another 1/2 cup of jam.
Anonymous
San Francisco
12/24/2019
This turned out beyond fantastic. I was really nervous because I read all the lukewarm reviews and I don't bake often. I couldn't find freezedried fruit so I omitted the sugar coating and just did eggwash and they were a beautiful dark golden colour. For the second batch, I experimented with shredded coconut in the filling and coconut sprinkled on top (I added it about 5 minutes before baking was over to avoid burning) and it looked really nice. Couldn't taste the coconut that much but I was also just trying to use up some leftover coconut lol. I also zested lemon into the filling as well as orange because I wanted it more zippy than sweet. Everyone who ate these were incredibly impressed and I was very pleased. The recipe is a lot of work and doesn't yield that many pieces but for a special occasion (I made them for my father-in-law's birthday), it's a nice satisfying project.
Anonymous
Toronto, Canada
12/17/2019
I’m hot and cold on this one. I’ve made it a couple of time, always trying to make them look like the picture. They’re a lot of work but the filling is REALLY good and the raspberry sugar sprinkles are pretty. That being said, I think the example photo is very unrealistic. I don’t know how everyone else in the reviews seemed to bake them so perfectly. They turn into brown flat lumps and often fall over. Also if you put the sugar on while it bakes (even just 3 mins before you take them out of the oven) the sugar and raspberries burn!!! It’s so sad. Finally, the size they suggest (2in on one side and .5in on the other) is ridiculous and even hard to fit in your mouth. The best takeaway might be the simple filling - maybe use it with an easier cookie
Anonymous
12/10/2019