If you love traditional rugelach, these gluten free rugelach will be a fun new flavor to try! Fill with your favorite fillings and enjoy. These homemade rugelach cookies are popular for Hanukkah or anytime!
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Traditional rugelach is a Jewish cookie with chocolate and nuts that you can find in many bakeries and cafes. Mr. Fearless Dining's grandmother used to make rugelach and the cookie was so flaky, it just melted in my mouth.
These cookies are like a flaky rolled cookie that is very similar to a pastry. In case you are wondering how do you even say this cookie's name? Rugelach pronunciation is rug-eh-lach. It just rolls off the tongue :-).
What kind of fillings can you use?
I have made lots of flavors of gluten free rugelach, both traditional and non-traditional. Here are some more ideas:
- Spread Nutella and chopped nuts on the dough.
- Chopped nuts - pecans and walnuts are the most popular
- Chocolate - gluten free chocolate chip rugelach is one of my favorites!
- Cinnamon sugar - these taste like cinnamon rolls
- Strawberry or other fruity jams - I love to make strawberry white chocolate rugelah!
Why this rugelach recipe is great:
This gluten free rugelach recipe is perfectly flaky and firm, and nestles the filling beautifully through every roll of the dough. You can make this cookie in the traditional way of rolling pie wedges, or make it with strips of dough in a spiral shape.
The sky is the limit on fillings you can use and you can make these cookies with the kids for a fun kitchen project! Consider this a rugelach dough base for your favorite fillings!
What you need to make this:
Ingredient notes:
- Gluten free flour blend - I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF, Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend, and Authentic Foods Multi Blend. That doesn't mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- Xanthan gum or guar gum - if your gluten free blend doesn't include one of these, you will need to add it.
- Cream cheese - I recommend using full fat cream cheese.
- Mix-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, and dried fruits
Recipe step by step directions:
Step 1: Add all of your dry ingredients to the bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix. (Make sure your cream cheese and butter are softened.) You can also mix these in a standing mixer if you prefer.
Step 2: Your dough will look firm like this.
Step 3: Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. You will want to refrigerate the dough for 45 minutes.
Step 4: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on wax paper. Add a piece of wax paper on top and and roll it out to 1/2 inch thickness.
Step 5: Prepare your mix-in. I use a food chopper to chop the nuts and other mixings to they are more evenly sized for rolling. In this photo I am using cinnamon, brown sugar, and walnuts. You can also add chocolate chips.
Step 6: Sprinkle the mix-in over the dough. Spread it out evenly.
Step 7: Use a pizza wheel to cut the dough. See what I mean by the rugelach dough looking like a pizza?
Mr. Fearless Dining was walking through the kitchen and thought I was making a pizza at first :-).
Step 8: Very carefully roll the wedges from the widest part to the middle. Place each cookie on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Step 9: This picture shows the rugelach on the cookie sheet ready to bake.
Step 10: Bake at 350º F for 9-10 minutes, depending on how large your rolls are. Here are the baked rugelach ready to eat!
Here are the gluten free chocolate chip rugelach I made last week. This shows the spiral method by using long rectangular strips of dough instead of cutting the dough like a pizza.
With a little effort, these are a delicious cookie that your whole family will gobble up! Dust with powdered sugar for a pretty effect.
We are cookie fanatics here at Fearless Dining. If you are looking for cookies, you will want to check out all of my best gluten free cookies recipes.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQ:
You will need to pinch together the dough when the dough. The dough squishes back together very easily, but you will want to do this every time you see a crack like this form.
These cookies will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
You can definitely freeze these rugelach cookies! I put them in a sealable Ziploc bag. Are you ready to try to make these cookies for yourself?
More gluten free cookie recipes to try:
- Gluten Free Rum Raisin Cookies
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Israeli Honey Cookies
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave me a rating and a comment. I LOVE hearing from you!! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest to see even more delicious recipes!
📋 Recipe
Gluten Free Rugelach
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- dash salt
- 1 3/4 cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- 1/4 cup +2-3 tablespoons water (add extra tablespoons gradually until you can shape your dough as shown in the photo
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- In a large bowl, add dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- In a small bowl, add cream cheese, butter, water, and vanilla. Mix well with an electric mixer. (Do not add extra tablespoons of water yet.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well. Add extra tablespoons of water one at a time until you get a good dough consistency like shown in my picture above. Refrigerate the dough for 45 minutes.
- Divide the dough in half. Lay out a piece of wax paper. Put the one of the dough balls in the middle of the wax paper and shape into a ball. Place another piece of wax paper on top.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough, keeping it in a circle shape until it is 1/2 inch thick.
- Spread on your mix-in. I like to use chopped nuts, cinnamon, and sugar. You can also use chocolate chips.
- Spread the mix-in to cover the dough evenly.
- Use a pizza cutting wheel to slice it into thin wedges as shown above in the picture.
- Gently pull a wedge out and roll as shown. Pinch the dough to fix any cracks that happen.
- Place rolled rugelach onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat with the second dough ball.
- Bake for 10 minutes until your cookies are golden like shown above.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF, Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend, and Authentic Foods Multi Blend. That doesn't mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- If you notice your dough cracking as you roll the rugelach, carefully pinch the cracks back together.
- These cookies will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
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Mary
Love this recipe! I actually used vegan cream cheese and vegan butter because I’m allergic to dairy, and it worked out great. I also added a tablespoon of pure pectin to help flexibility- anyway, everyone thought they were delish and couldn’t believe they were gf !
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you tried it dairy-free. Thank you for letting us know you enjoyed them :-).
Beth
You know how much I love rugelach. I often make some that are nut-free for friends. So glad to be able to also prepare them gluten-free now. Your dough recipe is so similar to non gluten-free versions and it works so well!
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you can have this in your arsenal for gluten free friends 🙂
Laura
Yes! This is my favorite treat and you were able to make it gluten-free. Thank you!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you so much Laura, enjoy!