Cherry Pistachio Rugelach with tart cherry preserves, nutty pistachios with brown sugar and cinnamon and rolled together in a decadent cream cheese dough.
I have been holding on to this recipe for weeks and finally I can now share it with the world!
I am so excited to be a part of The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! Two amazing women and bloggers teamed up together and created such a planned out event
Some quick statistics:
-Over 22,000 cookies were sent over the world!
-Over 600 bloggers participated in the cookie swap!
Now that is a lot of happy cookie-people!
I was on the hunt for the perfect cookie to send out! I really wanted to make something that represented me. Something traditional with a twist. Something that melted in your mouth and had layers of texture and flavor. Something that had sweetness and acid, a slight crunch and that buttery-creamy feel we all indulge for in a cookie.
Rugelach! Perfect! A cookie I grew up with, the traditional cream cheese dough melts on your tongue and there’s nothing like it. The fillings nestled inside are endless-this is where I had fun with the flavors.
Method:
1) Cream butter and cream cheese in stand mixer with a paddle attachment until creamy. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix well.
2) Add flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface and roll into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
3) For the filling: In 1 bowl, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pistachios. In another bowl, stir together the black cherry preserves and orange zest.
4) Take one dough-ball out of fridge (leaving others chilled until ready to use) and on a well-floured surface, roll it out using a floured rolling pin. Roll it out to about 9 inches in diameter.
*It will feel somewhat hard/stiff in the very beginning, but this is such a beautiful soft dough, once you start working it, it gets easier.
5) If you have a round cheese cake pan or any 9-10in pan, use that as a guide to cut a perfect circle for your rolled out dough and save the excess cut-outs to use again.
*It doesn’t have to be perfect 😉
6) Take 2 Tb of preserves and spread a thin layer on the dough. Less is more in this case.
7) Now take 1/4 c of pistachio mixture and spread it evenly on the preserves, lightly pressing down.
8) Using a very sharp knife or even a pizza cutter, but the dough in half, then in quarters.
9) Then cut the quarters in half.
10) Now here’s where to be gentle and take your time! Take one of the wedges and roll from the outside-in.
11) Once all of them are rolled up, place them on cookie sheet, end-side down and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
12) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown.
How I wrapped the cherry pistachio rugelach:
I found how through trial and error how delicate these little guys were. So I decided to wrap each rugelach in plastic wrap individually and then place then in a cute cookie bag tied with a bow!
I then placed them in a colorful-Holiday box packed with tissue paper to absorb shock during travel.
And then tied it with a bow!
So as part of the Cookie Swap…I received cookies too! Don’t you love the spirit of giving? Especially when it comes in the form of sugar?
Shannon from My Place in the Race sent over moist and sweet Pumpkin Snickerdoodles! Thank you so much Shannon!
Chris from Mele Cotte shipped over beautifully packaged glazed-spice cookies! I just couldn’t stop at one!
Want to be a cookie-swapper next year? Sign up here!
Thank you to the lovely ladies of Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen for doing such an AMAZING job!
Enjoy!
Cherry-Pistachio Rugelach
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients
Dough
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 c all-purpose flour sifted
Filling
- 1/4 c brown sugar
- 6 Tb sugar
- 1 c pistachios chopped finely in food processor
- 1/2 c black cherry preserves quickly pulsed in food processor (no lumps)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- freshly grated nutmeg
- orange zest
- 1/4 c cinnamon sugar mix together sugar+cinnamon
- egg for egg wash
Instructions
- Cream butter and cream cheese in stand mixer with a paddle attachment until creamy. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add flour and mix until just combined. Dump the dough onto a well floured surface and roll into a ball. Cut the ball in quarters and wrap each quarter in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- For the filling: In 1 bowl, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and pistachios. In another bowl, stir together the black cherry preserves and orange zest.
- Take one dough-ball out of fridge (leaving others chilled until ready to use) and on a well-floured surface, roll it out using a floured rolling pin. Roll it out to about 9 inches in diameter.
- *It will feel somewhat hard/stiff in the very beginning, but this is such a beautiful soft dough, once you start working it, it gets easier.
- If you have a round cheese cake pan or any 9-10in pan, use that as a guide to cut a perfect circle for your rolled out dough and save the excess cut-outs to use again.
- Take 2 Tb of preserves and spread a thin layer on the dough. Less is more in this case.
- Now take 1/4 c of pistachio mixture and spread it evenly on the preserves, lightly pressing down.
- Using a very sharp knife or even a pizza cutter, but the dough in half, then in quarters.
- Then cut the quarters in half.
- Now here's where to be gentle and take your time! Take one of the wedges and roll from the outside-in.
- Once all of them are rolled up, place them on cookie sheet, end-side down and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Watch how to make it here!
Samantha, I just clicked over from the LAT for a closer look at these beauties and to say congratulations for making the Top 10 in this year’s L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off. Job well done, I’m thrilled for you! Happy Holidays to you & yours from NorCal.
Thanks so much Brooks! I am SOO excited!! Can’t wait to check out their test kitchen next week!
LOVE rugelach…I swear they are like crack cookies…in fact I will call them that them that on my blg going forward! And i LOVE this combination of the cherry and pistacio. Delish!!!
Hahah Thanks Mila!! Yes…crack cookies for sure!! That’s awesome!!
They look great-cannot wait to try them.
But I would love to make a chocolate filling for these delicious cookies.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
Thank you!!
Chocolate would be super easy to swap out! Just add chocolate chips…I have a chocolate raspberry recipe here: https://littleferrarokitchen.com/2015/12/chocolate-raspberry-rugelach/
How about something used in a recipe for babka choc chip?
Hi Susan! Are you looking for a babka recipe and not rugelach?
I have made cream cheese dough many times..the ones I make are not flaky, but rather dry and hard, and sometimes seem under baked …do you think they are over mixed? Two other questions..do you make like the ones in New York that are more square and have crystal sugar on top, and what is black cherry preserves, is it jam, and if that is not available what can you use ? Thanks so much
Hi Toba! Ok to answer your questions: For my rugelach, I also mix just until combined but until no flour is left in bowl. And then I always wrap it and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to relax the dough. When baking, I look for light golden brown color and take them out right away. They still stay hot and are soft and flaky. I also sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top before baking! As for black cherry preserves, you can find that at many stores with the other flavors (raspberry, strawberry, etc). I really liked the black cherry since it gave it a deeper flavor, but really, use anything you find..my next go to would be raspberry for sure! Have fun, use whatever nuts you have or jams and please let me know how they come out!