An easy recipe handed down from a family friend years ago and made gluten-free + every bit as delicious! The simple, 3 ingredient dough filled with a mix of cinnamon sugar, walnuts and raisins and rolled into bite size crescents.
Rugelah (Rugelach)
Buttery, just the right amount of sweet and so yummy!
New! I’ve added a cooking video to the website so you can see how we make our Gluten-Free Rugelah (Rugelach).
As with all our recipes, there is a printable recipe with exact measurements and directions on the bottom of this page.
Hope you love them!
Original post December 2019…
We finally made our family Rugelah recipe gluten-free and it is delish!
By now you know, my family has a long tradition of making lot of holiday cookies each season.
Being over 10 years since my son was diagnosed with celiac disease, we have made nearly all the recipes gluten-free… but never the rugelah (also spelled rugelach)… until now!
I was inspired to try it because last year my son wanted to help my mom make the rugelah and asked if he could roll the dough (while I had a heart attack because of the regular flour)… He had so much fun because it is such a tender and easy dough.
So this year, I was determined to make it gluten -free so he could taste it too!
We made one batch early November to test it out. The dough was beautiful but we struggled rolling it as it stuck to our silicone rolling mat and ultimately, we couldn’t roll the dough thin enough.
So my mom suggested a wooden rolling board (basically just a BIG cutting board) and we made it again to great success!
Pro Tip: While I love my silicone rolling mat for so many dishes, I have learned (the hard way!) that with cookies like this, where you want the dough rolled thin, a wooden cutting board really is the only way.
I’ve since made these cookies many times and we are over the moon with how easy they are to make, to roll, and to eat!
As with all my family’s recipes, we made it gluten-free using GF Jules gluten-free flour (affiliate link).
You may have noticed that we are affiliate for GFJules. A great gluten-free flour is so important with gluten-free baking! To learn more about why we love GFJules flour and why we have used it for 10 years, click here.
Bonus: at the bottom of that post is a one-time use affiliate Discount Code.
And importantly, purchasing through an affiliate link does not change your cost at all. It generates a small percentage of the sale for me, and purchasing through an affiliate link helps me fund this website and all the recipes I share, so thank you!
Back to the Gluten-freeRugelah…
The recipe is from my Aunt’s friend and we’ve been making it for as long as I can remember.
All you’ll need is 7 ingredients…
Gluten-free all purpose flour
cream cheese
butter or dairy-free butter
sugar
cinnamon
chopped walnuts
raisins.
And the dough is only 3 ingredients!
Cream cheese
butter
and all purpose flour.
There are many ways to make rugelah dough but the way this recipe calls for is to cream the cream cheese and butter, then add in the flour.
It comes together in 5 minutes, then you knead it a few times, and then needs to be refrigerated for 90 minutes, so definitely plan for that!
There are also many filling possibilities but this recipe calls for a mix of cinnamon, sugar, chopped walnuts and raisins.
You can obviously adapt if you have allergies.
After chilling the dough, it’s time to set up your rolling station and make the cookies!
Divide the dough into 2, keeping the unused portion in the wax paper to keep from drying out.
Place some flour on the cutting board and roll out the dough thinly.
It is a easy to roll, tender dough because of the cream cheese.
Cut into wedges like a pizza, sprinkle and spread the filling over the dough, then roll from the wide side to the point to create a crescent cookie.
Each cookie will look slightly different and some of mine don’t even look like crescents but it’s all ok!
But one thing my family always agrees on is that you want the wedges and pieces to be smaller rather than larger, so feel free to cut more wedges or even cut the cookie in half… it’s really your preference.
Sprinkle with sugar and bake until golden brown.
Once baked, let cool and enjoy!
They will be buttery, just the right amount of sweet and super yummy!
Hope you love this gluten-free rugelah as much as we do!
A family recipe made gluten-free and every bit as delicious! It's a simple, 3 ingredient dough filled with a mix of cinnamon sugar, walnuts and raisins and rolled into bite size crescents. Buttery, just the right amount of sweet and yummy! 2 hours prep includes refrigerating dough for 90 minutes. Active time: 30 mins.
Prep Time2hrs
Cook Time18mins
Total Time2hrs18mins
Course: Dessert, Holidays, Cookies
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free optional
Servings: 36-40 rugelah
Author: Healthy Gluten-free Family
Ingredients
½lb2 sticks Butter or dairy free butter. softened
8oz.cream cheese or dairy-free cream cheesesoftened
2Cupsgluten-free all purpose flour with xanthan gumwe use GF Jules - affiliate link
1cupsugardivided
1cupwalnutsfinely chopped
1teaspoon.cinnamon
½cupraisins
NOTE: I find this dough rolls best using a wooden cutting board rather than a silicone mat
Instructions
Mix Dough
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese.
Add in flour a little at a time and mix until well combined.
Knead the dough a few times.
Wrap ball of dough in wax paper and refrigerate 90 min.
Roll cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix filling: in a medium bowl, combine ½ cup sugar, raisins, cinnamon and nuts. Set aside.
Divide the dough in half, keeping the unused portion wrapped in wax paper so it doesn't dry out.
Place flour on the cutting board and roll into circle 1/16 “ thick. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 16 or more wedges like a pizza. ( I usually cut into more wedges and my mother cuts each wedge into thirds and Small is better.)
Spread filling over wedges.
Roll dough wide end to point to create crescents or cookies.
I haven’t made them gluten-free but someone shared on Instagram the other day that they made them with dairy-free butter and cream cheese and they turned out great. They looked amazing! Let me know if you try it.
Yes and yes! I’ve never made it with anything but GFJules flour but any great 1:1 flour should work! And likewise, I haven’t made it without nuts but it should be fine as well! Enjoy!
Hi Karen, those rugelachs look awesome! Was reading the recipe and it says 1/2lb. Butter, but 1 stick is 1/4lb. I checked the video recipe and it is 1 stick of butter. Just wanted to let you know.
Thank you for sharing great recipes!
Hi! My name is Karen, and I’m the mom in our Healthy Gluten-Free Family. My posts and pictures here and on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter are labors of love that allow me to share a very personal journey with you, one our family has taken together — learning, experimenting and sharing how to raise a healthy happy gluten-free family. Read more ...
Can these be made diary free too?
I haven’t made them gluten-free but someone shared on Instagram the other day that they made them with dairy-free butter and cream cheese and they turned out great. They looked amazing! Let me know if you try it.
Be still my heart! If they’re anything like my dear belated mother’s, I will cry. Thank you!
Oh my goodness, I hope you love them! I understand that rugelach recipes really vary… please let me know how this compares to your family’s recipe!
Can I use 1:1 flour? And omit the walnuts? Just what we need as the kiddos bounce back from their 2nd vaccines!
Yes and yes! I’ve never made it with anything but GFJules flour but any great 1:1 flour should work! And likewise, I haven’t made it without nuts but it should be fine as well! Enjoy!
Hi Karen, those rugelachs look awesome! Was reading the recipe and it says 1/2lb. Butter, but 1 stick is 1/4lb. I checked the video recipe and it is 1 stick of butter. Just wanted to let you know.
Thank you for sharing great recipes!
You are correct! 1/2 lb is correct! It’s just that it’s 2 sticks! Thanks for catching and pointing it out! Corrected!