Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach

Baked Fresh cookies are a must each Christmas season. Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach are at the top of my list every Christmas. Family, friends, neighbors, even Santa himself deserve fresh baked cookies from your oven.

Rugelach is an old Jewish cookie tradition with families creating their own favorite fillings.  Traditionally the dough is made with with a butter/cream cheese combination and after chilling, the dough is rolled and filled with nuts and jams (and sugar, of course!) – much like a cinnamon roll.  The sugar caramelizes when it bakes combining with the butter which results in a crisp, tender delicious cookie.

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Try these Rugelach flavor combinations

Don’t be afraid to experiment with flavors.  You really can’t go wrong with this dough.  It’s a breeze to work with – get your kids involved in the rolling process – and the addition of your favorite ingredients results in a flaky, dream cookie.

• Raspberry – Raspberry & Chocolate  –  Raspberry & Pecans or Walnuts
• Chocolate  –   Chocolate & Pecans or Walnuts   –   Chocolate & Hazelnuts
• Apricot
• Almond
• Cinnamon Sugar  –  Cinnamon & Pecans or Walnuts  –  Cinnamon & Raspberry
  

Do Rugelach Freeze Well?

Absolutely!  In fact, the dough requires a chill before rolling it out, so you can easily freeze it and finish it when you’re ready to bake it off.  The dough will need to thaw, so move it to your refrigerator the night before you plan on using it.  And, if you plan ahead, you might divide your dough before freezing so you’re able to thaw just what you need for baking.  You may also bake the rugelach, allow to cool and then freeze.  After a short thaw, they’re delicious to eat!

Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach ingredients

You will need:

• 3 1/4 cups a.p. flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12 oz cream cheese, softened
• 12 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 1/2 tsp vanilla)
• 2 1/2 cups walnut or pecan halves
• 1 1/2 Tbls cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar

Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach instructions:

Prepare your dough:

1.  Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Beat your cream cheese with your butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.  Beat until fully combined and smooth.  Add your vanilla bean paste or vanilla and thoroughly mix.
3. Turn your mixer off and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients.  Slowly turn the mixer on and beat until incorporated.  Repeat two more times.  Dough will come together.
4. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and transfer your dough to the wrap.  Form the dough with your fingers into a rectangle about 8″ by 12″ (not looking for perfection here).
5. Cover with another piece of wrap and refrigerate for an hour.  If you’re going to freeze your dough for later use, wrap securely with another layer of wrap and place into a sealable bag or wrap with foil.

Nut filling:

• Combine your cinnamon with your sugar and set aside.
  
• Process your walnut or pecan halves in a food processor.  We’re looking for finely chopped but not dust.  Don’t pulse too far or you’ll wind up with flour!
• Add your cinnamon sugar to your nuts and set aside.

Get rolling:

• Remove your dough from the refrigerator. 
• With your dough still on the bottom piece of wrap, cut in half lengthwise (so you’ll have two 4″ by 12″ pieces).  Rewrap one half and place back in the refrigerator.
• Sprinkle 1 cup of the nut/sugar mixture on your work surface.  Spread it out about 1 1/2″ bigger on all sizes than your dough.
• Lay your dough in the center of the nut/sugar mixture.  Sprinkle with another cup of the nut/sugar mixture.
• Roll your dough out to about 1/8″.  Here’s how I measure: most thumbs are 1″ long (give or take).  When I’m rolling out dough and it needs to be thin, I’ll look at my thumbnail.  It’s usually 1/2″ since I don’t have long nails anymore.  That helps me approximate when I’m looking for thickness of 1/4″ to 1/8″.  Your dough should be about 10″-11″ by 26″.
  
• Let’s roll!  Starting at the long side, roll up the dough nice and tight.  I like to make sure that the end of the roll ends up on the bottom before I cut.
• Using a serrated knife, cut your dough into 1″ pieces. 
• Place cut cookies on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.  Leave at least 1 1/2″ space around your cookies.
• Place your cookie sheet into the refrigerator and repeat the process for your second half of the dough.
• While dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake your first cookie sheet for 30-35 minutes on the middle rack.  Make sure to flip your cookie sheet halfway through the bake time for even baking of all cookies.  You’re looking for your sugar to have caramelized and for the cookies to be firm.
  
• Cool for 5 minutes on the pan before moving the cookies to a cooling rack to completely cool. 
• Repeat with second cookie sheet.
• Makes 36-38 cookies.
• Cookies may be frozen once they are cooled.  They’ll keep for at least a year but they won’t last that long once you try one!

Think you’ve seen Rugelach before?

I bet you’ve seen rugelach before but shaped more like a crescent cookie.  They’re often made by rolling your dough into a circle and cutting like a pie before rolling up.  If you’d like to see instructions for that technique (and a really great recipe), click HERE.

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Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach

Baked fresh cookies are a must each Christmas season. Cinnamon Pecan Rugelach are at the top of my list every Christmas. Family friends, neighbors, even Santa himself deserve fresh baked cookies from your oven. Rugelach is an old Jewish cookie tradition with bakeries specializing in their own fillings. It’s traditionally made with with a butter/cream cheese dough filled with nuts and jams (and sugar, of course!). The sugar caramelizes when it bakes combining with the butter which results in a crisp, tender delicious cookie.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 36 cookies

Instructions

Prepare your dough:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Beat your cream cheese with your butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.  Beat until fully combined and smooth.  Add your vanilla bean paste or vanilla and thoroughly mix.
3. Turn your mixer off and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients.  Slowly turn the mixer on and beat until incorporated.  Repeat two more times.  Dough will come together.
4. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter and transfer your dough to the wrap.  Form the dough with your fingers into a rectangle about 8″ by 12″ (not looking for perfection here).
5. Cover with another piece of wrap and refrigerate for an hour.  If you’re going to freeze your dough for later use, wrap securely with another layer of wrap and place into a sealable bag or wrap with foil.

Nut filling:

1. Combine your cinnamon with your sugar and set aside.
2. Process your walnut or pecan halves in a food processor.  We’re looking for finely chopped but not dust.  Don’t pulse too far or you’ll wind up with flour!
3. Add your cinnamon sugar to your nuts and set aside.

Get rolling:

1. Remove your dough from the refrigerator.
2. With your dough still on the bottom piece of wrap, cut in half lengthwise (so you’ll have two 4″ by 12″ pieces).  Rewrap one half and place back in the refrigerator.
3. Sprinkle 1 cup of the nut/sugar mixture on your work surface.  Spread it out about 1 1/2″ bigger on all sizes than your dough.
4. Lay your dough in the center of the nut/sugar mixture.  Sprinkle with another cup of the nut/sugar mixture.
5. Roll your dough out to about 1/8″.  Here’s how I measure: most thumbs are 1″ long (give or take).  When I’m rolling out dough and it needs to be thin, I’ll look at my thumbnail.  It’s usually 1/2″ since I don’t have long nails anymore.  That helps me approximate when I’m looking for thickness of 1/4″ to 1/8″.  Your dough should be about 10″-11″ by 26″.
6. Let’s roll!  Starting at the long side, roll up the dough nice and tight.  I like to make sure that the end of the roll ends up on the bottom before I cut.
7. Using a serrated knife, cut your dough into 1″ pieces.
8. Place cut cookies on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.  Leave at least 1 1/2″ space around your cookies.
9. Place your cookie sheet into the refrigerator and repeat the process for your second half of the dough.
10. While dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
11. Bake your first cookie sheet for 30-35 minutes on the middle rack.  Make sure to flip your cookie sheet halfway through the bake time for even baking of all cookies.  You’re looking for your sugar to have caramelized and for the cookies to be firm.
12. Cool for 5 minutes on the pan before moving the cookies to a cooling rack to completely cool.
13. Repeat with second cookie sheet.

Makes 36-38 cookies.

Recipe Notes

Cookies may be frozen once they are cooled.  They’ll keep for at least a year but they won’t last that long once you try one!

Have you tried Rugelach? 

What flavor combinations are your favorites?  Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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