Made with a light, flaky pastry containing cream cheese and an enriched sweet mincemeat filling, these small Jewish pastry treats are a true taste sensation.
Golden, sweet, and irresistibly flaky, this buttery rugelach recipe combines a festive mincemeat and almond filling wrapped in delicious homemade pastry. The dough, made from scratch is made with smooth cream cheese, creating a rich, melt-in-the-mouth texture.
These mini pastries are perfect for holidays or special afternoon treats.
Crisp and golden, you'll be so glad you took the time to make these wonderful Rugelach pastries. They are seriously delicious and incredibly moreish!
What are Rugelach?
Rugelach are a Jewish sweet enriched pastry which are often made for celebrations such as Hanukkah. Their dainty size makes these little morsels perfect for gatherings.
Fun fact: In Yiddish, rugelach means"little twists"!
The pastry, which is made with cream cheese, is spread with a thin layer of filling before being rolled up, in the same way as we do for a croissant. This results in a tasty, flaky treat which really has to be made and tasted to be believed.
This recipe was inspired by a recipe I first encountered, Rugelach on Alex's Very Much Blog, where she too made her first batch of these little pastries. Hers were filled with Nutella and looked amazing. They very quickly made their way onto my 'to bake list'. In fact, they went straight to the top of the list as I couldn't bear to wait to try them!
Now I am not going to make any claim to these being authentic Regelach as I am not an expert in Jewish cooking. I have no idea how authentic they are or not! But as an expert eater, I can say these do taste really really good.
The cream cheese pastry is so good, it further inspired me to use the same easy to make pastry to make mini apple and cinnamon turnovers.
The Rugelach, make great festive party food and give the traditional mince pie a run for its money. In fact, if you only have time to make one bake this Christmas, I really must encourage you to try these little dudes!
Ingredients
See recipe card for full instructions and quantities.
For the Enriched Pasty
- Plain flour - (US = all-purpose) is best because it helps give the pastries a light crumb.
- Butter - cold and cubed helps you rub it into your flour without heating it up too much as you work it
- Caster sugar - I use golden caster sugar for most of my baking. It's the same as normal caster sugar, but it's unrefined. It is a little more flavoursome with light caramel tones.
- Cream cheese - Use full-fat cream cheese from a tub or better still, from a block. If using block, cut into pieces before adding to the flour mixture.
- Icing sugar - confectioners' sugar for dusting
For the Sweet Mincemeat Filling
- Sweet mincemeat - for the best taste and texture in this recipe use homemade. Try this very easy mincemeat recipe.
- Lemon zest - add a citrusy note to the filling.
- Ground almonds - adds flavour and texture
- Mixed Spice - A British spice blend that's often used in baking. The blend of spices can vary, but typically includes cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, ground ginger, cloves, mace, and allspice. If you can not find it, you can make your own mixed spice or use Pumpkin spice, which has a similar flavour.
To complete
- Milk - whichever you have in the fridge.
- Granulated sugar - the larger crystals give a little extra crunch.
Variations
I do not recommend making any changes to the pastry (apart from omitting the sugar for savoury rugelach) but you can play around with the fillings to your heart's content. Here are some suggestions to kick off with.
- Hazelnut and Chocolate Rugelach - use a chocolate hazelnut spread such as nutella.
- Chocolate Tahini Rugelach use a chocolate tahini spread if you can find it or make your own
- Cinnamon Bun Rugelach - Mix equal quantities of caster sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the pastry.
- Jammy Rugelach - Spread with jam, apricot or raspberry works well. Some finely chopped nuts are also a great addition to jammy rugelach.
- Savoury Rugelach - omit the sugar in the pastry and spread generously with pesto or crumbled feta cheese and finely chopped walnuts.
How to make Rugelach with sweet mincemeat step by step
Make the pastry
Step 1
Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Step 2
Add the caster sugar and spoon in the cream cheese.
Step 3
Use a knife to cut in the cream cheese until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs
Step 4
Use your hands to gently bring the mixture together to form a soft dough.
Divide into three balls, flatten, cover and chill.
Make the filling
Step 1
Blitz the mincemeat to a thick paste in a food processor or using a stick blender.
Step 2
Mix in the almonds, lemon zest and mixed spice.
To complete
Step 1
Working with one portion of the dough at a time, roll into a thin circle.
Step 2
Spread one-third of the filling over the pastry.
Quick Tip
Use a pizza wheel to cut your dough into wedges, it's quicker and easier than using a knife.
Step 3
Cut the circle into 16 wedges.
Step 4
Roll each wedge from the wide end to form the Rugelach.
Step 5
Place on a lined baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Chill for 10 minutes before baking.
Step 6
Bake in the oven until golden.
Why is my rugelach dough sticky and difficult to roll?
This pastry uses a higher fat to flour ratio than most, which makes it so flaky and delicious, but the downside is that it can be a little tricky to roll. The key to success is keeping the pastry as cool as possible at all times. Follow these tips to help you. Don't be tempted to add more flour ,the pastry will become tough.
Top Tips
- Keep the dough cold: Make sure it's well chilled before rolling or cutting - cold dough is firmer and easier to handle.
- Work quickly: Roll out the dough before it warms up; as the butter softens, it becomes sticky and hard to shape.
- Roll between parchment - rolling the dough between 2 sheets of parchment will stop it sticking to the rolling pin or work surface. It will also make it easier to transfer to the fridge to cool again.
- Avoid a hot kitchen: If your oven warms the room, wait until you're almost ready to bake before preheating.
- Chill again if needed: If the dough starts sticking, pop it back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up. Taking time to chill between rolling, spreading with the filling, rolling up and baking will help to guarantee success.
Equipment
Food Processor or stick blender is required to make the filling.
Pizza Wheel - makes cutting the dough into wedges really easy.
Storage /Leftovers
These pastries store well.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week.
- The cream cheese dough can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
- Uncooked Rugelach can also be stored in the fridge covered for up to 24 hours before baking.
These pastries freeze well both before and after baking as does the dough
- Freeze: The baked pastries for up to 3 months (Open freeze then store in an airtight container or freezer bag.).
- The uncooked dough and/ or pastries can be frozen for up to 6 months.
📖 Recipe
Rugelach with Mincemeat and Almond
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 Medium Mixing Bowl
- 2 Large Baking Trays
- Pallet Knife (or similar)
- cling film
- stick blender or food processor
- baking parchment or non stick liner
- Pizza wheel or Paring nnife
- Rolling Pin C
- pastry brush
Ingredients
For the Enriched Pasty
- For the Pastry
- 250 g (9oz) plain flour
- 200 g (7oz) butter diced and chilled
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 200 g (7oz) full-fat cream cheese
- Icing sugar for rolling out
For the Mincemeat and Almond Filling
- 400 g (14oz) sweet mincemeat
- 1 Lemon Zest of
- 50 g (2oz) ground almonds
- ½ teaspoon mixed spice
To Finish the Rugelach
- Milk to brush
- Granulated sugar to sprinkle
Instructions
Make the pastry.
- Place 250g flour in a large mixing bowl. Add 200g chilled butter, cut into cubes and rub in until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon sugar. Spoon in 200g of cream cheese into the bowl. Use a dinner knife to cut repeatedly through the mixture, moving the bowl around as you do so. Gradually, the cream cheese will become coated in flour and will resemble coarse breadcrumbs again.
- Next, bring the dough together with your hands and form into a ball. Divide into 3 equal sized balls and flatten each into a disc. Wrap each piece and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Make the mincemeat and almond filling
- Either use a stick blender or food processor for this stage (I used a stick blender). Blitz 400g mincemeat into a coarse paste. Add the zest of 1 lemon, 50g ground almonds and ½ teaspoon mixed spice and stir together thoroughly. Add a little more ground almonds if your mixture is still a little loose.
To complete
- Remove one of the chilled pastry discs from the fridge, place onto a clean work surface liberally dusted with icing sugar. Dust the rolling pin and the upper surface of the pastry with icing sugar. Roll the pastry out into a circle about 2mm (⅛in) thick, dusting with more icing sugar if necessary. Chill again for 10 minutes if the pastry has become very soft.
- Spread ⅓ of the filling evenly over the surace of the pastry.
- Using a pizza wheel or paring knife to slice the pastry into 16 wedges, ideally aiming for them to be approximately the same size.
- Dust the area next to the rolled pastry with more icing sugar. Take one of the wedges and lay it on the icing sugar with the pointed end furthest from you. Roll the pastry into a 'croissant' shape by starting the roll at the short straight edge nearest to you.
- Place the Rugelach on a lined baking sheet. Chill for at least 20 minutes.
- During this time, repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan)/400°F/gas mark 6. Use a pastry brush to gently paint a little milk onto the upper surface of each rugelach and sprinkle with a little granulated sugar.
- Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until crisp and golden. You may need to rotate the tray half way through the bake. Once baked, remove from the oven and after 2 minutes carefully transfer them to a cooling rack..
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Avoid over working the pastry when incorporating the cream cheese. The over worked pastry will be tough and not flaky once baked.
- Don't be tempted to add more flour to the dough.
- Use a food processor to make the pastry if you prefer, however, blend in short bursts taking care to avoid over working it.
- Use homemade mincemeat for the best flavour
- Bought mincemeat can be a little wetter than homemade and tends to seep out of the pastries during baking. Add some extra ground almond to stiffen slightly or if you have time, try adding the filling after slicing the pastry to ensure the filling is not too near the edges and therefore resulting in less seepage of the sweet mincemeat during the bake.
- If your kitchen is particularly warm, you may find that the pastry starts to shine and become tacky whilst you fill and roll each of the triangles. If this happens, simply scatter over some icing sugar and chill again. See the main post for more tips for working with this pastry.
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