These Almond Rugelach are made with tender cream cheese pastry dough filled with a homemade almond paste. They are the perfect little cookies for the almond lovers in your life.
These almond rugelach were one of the very first recipes I made for this blog back in 2014. I had about 3 styled but blurry pictures of them. So I remade them recently to get process shots and prettier photos! You can use almond paste or marzipan as the filling.
They are such fun little treats, especially when you can customize them with so many different rugelach filling. If you want something simple, try these cinnamon rugelach. Want a more traditional jam and nut filling? Try these fig and walnut rugelach. And if you’re looking for something totally unconventional, I’ve got these tropical rugelach with guava, coconut and macadamias.
Table of Contents
Helpful tools
Here are some of the equipment I like to use when making this recipe for cinnamon rugelach:
- A stand mixer to make the dough.
- A bench scraper to divide the dough into portions quickly. It also helps with scraping and lifting the dough off your surface easily if it happens to stick.
- A rolling pin to roll out the dough and the almond filling.
- And a pizza wheel to simplify cutting, though you can also use a knife.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Cream cheese – full fat brick cream cheese.
- Unsalted butter – I don’t recommend substituting salted butter here since it will make the dough saltier than intended.
- Granulated sugar – for the dough and to sprinkle on top of the rugelach just before baking.
- Kosher salt – just a small amount is used in the pastry dough as well as the almond paste filling. If you use table salt, use half as much.
- Pure almond extract – to enhance the almond flavor. You’ll want to use it in both the dough and the filling but you can also use vanilla extract for the dough if you want.
- All purpose flour – the original recipe uses half AP flour and half white whole wheat flour. But you can use all AP flour in the dough.
- Almond meal or almond flour – for the almond paste filling.
- Powdered sugar – you’ll need this for the almond paste filling and to dust the baked cookies before serving.
- Eggs – you’ll need 2 eggs. Use the egg whites for the almond paste filling and the egg yolks for the egg wash.
- Milk – just a tablespoon is needed for the egg wash. Or you can also use water if you don’t have milk.
- Sliced almonds – to top the cookies before baking. This is optional.
How to make almond rugelach
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Make the dough
First, cream together room temperature butter and cream cheese to combine and make sure there is no lump.
Then add sugar, salt and almond extract and beat until combined and fluffy.
Sift in the flour and stir until the dough forms. It will not be a super smooth dough but more on the soft side and just slightly wet, somewhere between a cookie dough and pie dough.
Note: You don’t need to knead the dough excessively. Just run your mixer until the dough comes together, that’s enough. But if you accidentally over-knead the dough, it is also okay, this dough is quite forgiving and will stay tender when baked.
Scrape the dough out on a floured surface and pat together into a disk. Keep the dough, surface and your hands floured as needed.
Divided the large disk into 4 equal portions and forms 4 smaller disks. Wrap each one in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, this will allow the dough to hydrate and make it easier to work with later.
Prepare the filling
Whisk together almond meal (or almond flour), powdered sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the egg whites and almond extract and mix with a spatula until a paste forms. Divide into 4 portions, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour before using.
Tip: You can use a food processor to make the almond paste, it will take just a min to whip it up.
Assemble and bake
Dust a piece of parchment paper with powdered sugar and place 1 portion of almond paste on top. Spread the plastic over it and press with the palm of your hand to spread it out into a circle. Use a rolling pin when it gets too thin to use your hand. Roll it into a circle between 8” and 9”.
Take a disk of rugelach dough out of the fridge and roll it into a 9″ circle.
Flip the rolled out disk of almond paste over the dough, center it as best as you could. Use one hand to massage the back of the parchment paper to get the almond paste to stick to the dough while using your other hand to peel off the parchment paper.
Cut into 12 and roll them up into crescent shape cookies. Keep assembled cookies on a lined baking sheet in the refrigerator or freezer while you work with the rest of the filling and the dough.
When ready to bake, brush the little almond rugelach with egg wash, sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar and some sliced almonds. Then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 – 20 minutes until the top of the cookies are lightly brown.
More baker’s tips
- Use store bough almond paste or marzipan – I’ve baked with Odense almond paste plenty before I started making almond paste at home to save money! Both the almond paste and marzipan are always available at grocery store year round. You can use either one. Marzipan will be sweeter as it contains more sugar.
- Stretch your store bought filling – You’ll need 2 packages of store bought almond paste or marzipan for this recipe so it can be pretty expensive. If you want to stretch your filling, you can use 1 package divided into 4, but the filling layer will be thinner and less flavorful. Homemade filling is a lot more economical.
- Let the dough come to room temp before rolling – if your dough has been in the fridge overnight or it was frozen, just make sure to let it soften, it will be easier to roll and the dough won’t crack. When the dough is too cold, it tends to crack in the middle when you roll it out.
- About the egg wash – typically, egg wash is made with 1 whole egg and some cream or milk. For this recipe, since you’re already using 2 egg whites for the almond paste, just use the 2 leftover egg yolks for the egg wash so they don’t go to waste.
- Almond paste storage and yield – the homemade almond paste can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. This recipe yields about 14 oz of almond paste filling.
Storage
These marzipan rugelach will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-5 days. You can also keep them refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw completely before serving.
The almond rugelach dough, unbaked, can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
You can also freeze the unbaked assembled cookies for up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen and increase baking time by a few minutes or more to get the cookies to brown to your liking.
FAQs
There are some difference between almond meal and almond flour. Almond meal is typically made with un-blanched almond (has the brown bit in it) and a bit coarser while almond flour is made with blanched almond and usually finer. However, you can generally use them interchangeable in recipes.
No, you have to use almond flour to make the almond paste filling in this recipe.
Hungry for more?
Marzipan Rugelach
Equipment
- Pizza Wheel
- Food Processor optional
Ingredients
For the rugelach dough:
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature, 227 g
- 8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, 227 g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, 47 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cup all-purpose flour, 270 g
For the almond filling:
- 2 cup almond meal, or almond flour, 260 g
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar, 125 g
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 egg whites
Egg wash and topping:
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon milk, or water
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Sliced almond
- Additional powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- To make the rugelach dough: cream 8 oz of room temperature unsalted butter and 8 oz of room temperature cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl with the paddle attachment on medium high speed until combined and creamy.
- Add ¼ cup of granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of almond extract extract and beat on medium speed until combined and fluffy.
- Sift in 2 cup of all-purpose flour, and stir on low speed until just combined.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured board, and shape into a disk. Divide into 4 equal portions, shape each into a ball then flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- To make the almond paste: add almond meal, powdered sugar and salt to a medium bowl and mix to combine. Separate 2 large eggs into whites and yolks. Save the yolks for later. Add the almond extract and the egg whites to the almond meal mixture, mix with a spatula until a paste form. Divide into 4 equal portions, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour until ready to use.
- To start assembling: take a portion of the almond paste out of the fridge. Dust a piece of parchment paper with powdered sugar, set the almond paste in the middle and place the piece of plastic it was wrapped it on top. Use the palm of your hand to press it into a round disk. Use a rolling pin to help you roll it out into a circle between 8" to 9". Set aside or place back in the refrigerator. Note that you are rolling this out in between the parchment paper and the plastic wrap.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a 9” circle, working with one disk of dough at a time.
- Take out the rolled out disk of almond filling. Peel the plastic off the top and flip it on top of the rolled out dough, try to center it as best as you can. Use one hand to massage the back of the parchment paper to help the almond paste stick to the dough, and with your other hand slowly peel back the parchment paper.
- Cut the circle into 12 triangles using a pizza wheel. First cut the circle into quarters, then cut each quarter into thirds.
- Roll the larger end of each triangle in to make a crescent shape cookie, place cookies on a parchment line baking sheet. Keep assembled cookies in the refrigerator or freezer while you repeat the process with the remaining disks of dough and almond paste.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Beat the leftover egg yolks with a tablespoon of milk to make egg wash.
- Brush egg wash all over the cookies, sprinkle granulated sugar generously over the cookies and add sliced almonds on top.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Dust with powdered sugar generously before serving.
Notes
- The homemade almond paste can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. This recipe yields about 14 oz of almond paste filling.
- You can substitute store bought almond paste or marzipan in this recipe. It will take 2 packages, each is 7 oz.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I know the almond paste is with almond flour it’s delicious, I’ve had it with other recipes from you. But can I also make the dough with almond flour instead of regular flour, as I’m gluten free ?
Hi Cynthia, I’ve never made this dough with almond flour before so I don’t know how the texture would turn out, I think it would be too crumbly. But try the gluten free all-purpose flour from Bob Red Mill or King Arthur to sub out the regular flour for the rugelach dough. I’ve heard from other readers that they have use that with success for other recipes of mine.
Rugelach is a food Jewish origin. Calling it a Christmas cookie really isn’t it. Super disappointed to see this.
Hi Stacey, thank you for your input. I never claimed these were Christmas cookies, I only shared that I made these during the holidays, which I still do from time to time simply because we love them. I bake the food that I enjoy and hope that other enjoy them too. I am not here to lecture people on things I don’t understand myself, but I always welcome constructive comments and criticism and inputs that will serve everyone.
A Great Complement!
What a lovely response. It’s super easy for people to nit pick, and bless you for not acting irritated.
These little treats look super yummy!
Thank you, Michele! I try my best 🙂
Lolll your life must be full of super disappointments then if you got your knickers in a knot about a name of someone’s helpful recipe on the internet. I came looking for a recipe with almond paste and this didn’t disappoint. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Olivia! Glad to see you enjoy this recipe 🙂
Is almond meal the same thing as almond flour?
You can use them interchangeably, but almond flour is typically made from blanched almonds and a bit finer whereas almond meal is made from un-blanched almonds and coarser.
Can I make this with just ALL all purpose flour?
You cannot make the filling with all purpose flour. But like I mentioned in the note section, you can use store bought almond paste.
I’m making these right now! I can’t wait. Can I freeze them after baking?
Thanks.
Pam
Hi Pamela, yes you can freeze them after. Or better yet, freeze them unbaked and then bake when you want fresh rugelach.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Has anyone made this with Solo Brand Almond filling or store-bought Marzipan? How were the results?
Is the cookie exchange still happening. I would love to be a part of it. I have a great recipe for Rosemary Marmalade Thumbprints that are mighty tasty!
Hey Adam, I’ve made these with Odense brand almond paste. You can make your own almond paste as well, it’s very easy! The cookie exchange is no longer happening, unfortunately.
Cannot get marzipan to spread on dough 🙁
Did you use homemade or store bought? The homemade version is usually softer and you can press it out with your finger tips. If it’s too hard to spread, roll it out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper until it’s about the same size but a little smaller than your dough circle.
This is by far the best rugelach recipe, ever! Made these for Christmas with leftover homemade almond paste and – WOW! The flavor and texture of these little beauties is nothing short of absolute baked perfection. The only thing that I would do differently next time would be to lightly toast the sliced almonds for the tops, as they didn’t toast quite enough during the baking process, and I like my almond garnish crispy. If everyone had this almond rugelach around the house on a regular basis, the world would be a happier place.
Thank you so much Karen! Delicious treats will surely make the world a happier place 🙂