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These flaky, melt-in-your-mouth Nutella Raspberry Rugelach are almost too easy to eat – they’ll disappear before your eyes! They also keep incredibly well in the freezer.
Today marks the second day of Hanukkah (Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish readers!!), and I don’t know about you guys, but my favorite part of Hanukkah is the food.
Let’s be honest, food is my favorite part of a lot of holidays, but on Hanukkah, I can’t resist tearing into the challah, devouring my grandma’s chicken and brisket, and eating way too many rugelach. If you’re not familiar with rugelach, let me explain.
Rugelach is a Jewish pastry with a crust made with cream cheese and butter to keep it super tender and flaky. Then, you’ll fill it with something delicious. There are tons of options. Raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, jams, and chocolate are all common (and delicious) fillings. Then, the dough then is rolled up and sliced, which creates a spiraled dough and filling cookie that is absolutely, irresistibly amazing.
I have posted a recipe for chocolate chip rugelach before (coincidentally, also for Hanukkah!) that uses a different method of rolling up the cookies. In that version, I rolled the dough into circles, then sliced into wedges, and rolled into crescent shapes. The post is full of pictures, so check it out if you want to see that shape of rugelach.
This time, though, I wanted to make things a little simpler for myself and make the cookies easier to keep frozen in a log, ready to slice and bake when ready. I instead rolled the dough out in four rectangles, which were than slathered with chocolate hazelnut spread and raspberry jam. Then, you roll them up, slice, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar, bake, and devour way too quick. Easy, not too messy, and so good.
These Nutella Raspberry Rugelach disappeared so quickly, and were definitely a favorite of mine. I looooove flaky desserts, and these were majorly soft, and flaky, and just the littlest bit crispy around the edges. The Nutella + raspberry combo is the perfect mix of sweetness with a little fruitiness. I couldn’t get enough, and kept stealing them off the cake stand where they sat in the kitchen.
Suffice to say, all my housemates and I were seriously sad when these were all gone. These are a cookie I wouldn’t want to miss! Make a batch, pop a few of the logs in the freezer, and you’ll be so happy to have them whenever you want. Enjoy!
More rugelach recipes:
Raspberry Nutella Rugelach
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened, cut into small pieces
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, slightly softened, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup Nutella or any chocolate hazelnut spread
- ½ cup raspberry jam
- Milk, to brush on top of cookies
- Granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add in the butter and cream cheese and mix on low speed. The dough will get crumbly and then start to come together. Mix until the dough is just combined. Alternately, this can be done in a bowl with a pastry cutter.
- Shape the mixture into a large rectangle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.
- When ready to prepare the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cut dough into 4 equally-sized pieces. On a floured surface (or in between sheets of parchment paper) roll out one piece of dough at a time into a 12-inch by 4-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with 2 tablespoons Nutella (warmed slightly if necessary), and then top with 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam.
- Working from the long end, gently roll the dough into a 12-inch long log, making sure seam is at the bottom. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes to rechill the dough (this will also help you make cleaner cuts. You can also wrap the dough plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months at this point).
- Remove from the freezer. Brush the dough log with milk, and sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Cut each log into 12 equal pieces, about 1” each. Place upright on lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 22 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers, they also freeze really well.
Rachel, I love your writing voice, and your photos are outstanding. These rugelach sound fantastic, and I love that they can be made ahead of time and then sliced and baked. Pinning for sure.
Thank you so much, Andrea. I so appreciate your compliments, and the pin! :) Happy holidays!
These rugelach are seriously all I am craving right now.. anything with nutella is an instant winner in my books. Thanks for making me hungry Rachel!
I’ve never tried rugelach but that cream cheese dough sounds too good. Love the Nutella and raspberry filling!
Quick question – when you say place on the sheet upright, do you mean with the milk and sprinkled sugar outer part of the log facing up? I’ve always laid mine down with the filling touching the parchment. I’m trying it your way today!
Hi Ari, yes I always bake them with the milk and sugar facing up (you can see in the pic where they’re on the baking sheet)! I love how the top gets sort of crunchy and caramelized from the sugar. Hope you love ’em this way! :)
Thank you for this recipe! I’d never tried rugelach before, let alone made them, and these were really great. They were so flaky and lovely that I felt surprised that I was able to make them at home!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! The flaky texture is one of my favorite things about these – thanks for your feedback!
Hi there can I make this in a food processor?
Hi Maggie, that should work, just make sure to scrape it down often.
Just wondering when you add in the vanilla? In the dough or on top? Can’t wait to bake these!
You add it to the dough! Sorry that it wasn’t listed – the recipe is updated now. Enjoy.
I’ve made rugelach many times but using the circular rollout method and have never had a problem. This way, the filling spilled out onto the baking sheet. Not going to be able to give these away.
Hi Gail, sorry you had an issue rolling these up! Is it possible they were filled too thickly or rolled too tightly? I always had more issues with filling spilling out the other way, but if that way works better for you, you can always do it that way!