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Walnut Rugelach Recipe (VIDEO)

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

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These walnut rugelach are soft, crumbly and flaky. Rugelach (a.k.a. ‘rogaliki’) are the perfect cookies and are surprisingly easy to make (the cookie dough will surprise you)! My Mother is famous for her rugelach recipe (a.k.a. ‘rogaliki’ cookies) and they ALWAYS disappear fast. These walnut rugelach are based on Mom’s classic recipe and filled with a cranberry-apricot and walnut filling.

This recipe is sponsored by our friends at Fisher and these cookies are loaded with crunchy Fisher walnuts making the flavor and texture of the rugelach irresistible.

Watch the how-to video until the end to see 3 generations get in on the taste test – SO FUN! Seeing my Mom and baby girl loving on the cookies just makes my heart sing. I hope you love these rugelach cookies – they are perfect for Mother’s Day or any holiday really, but are easy enough for every day.

Watch How to Make Walnut Rugelach Recipe:

I really want you all to discover this rugelach recipe. It may just become your go-to cookie! We have been loving these cookies for as long as I can remember and Mom makes them for nearly every potluck. She taught me how to make these after all and getting her seal of approval is just the best! I just love that she was in this video.

Happy Mother’s Day Mama – I love you more than words could ever express!

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

Ingredients for Walnut Rugelach Recipe:

1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, melted (not hot)
1 cup (8oz) warm milk (2% or whole milk)
4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
3/4 Tbsp active dry yeast

For Rugelach Cookie Filling/ Topping:

10 oz apricot preserves
1 cup Fisher walnuts**
3/4 cup dried cranberries/craisins, (or dried cherries, or raisins)
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Powdered sugar to generously dust cookies

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

**A Big thank you to our friends at Fisher Nuts for sponsoring this recipe! I feel good about buying Fisher nuts for my family because they don’t have preservatives and are non-GMO project verified. You get the nuts and only nuts – it’s as if you had cracked them out of the shell yourself, minus all the effort and mess of course ;). You’ll recognize the right nuts by their blue resealable “Fisher” brand bags.

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

I wasn’t kidding when I said to lay on the powdered goodness at the end. My kids always go for the ones with the most and I don’t blame them! Mmm… These walnut rugelach cookies are impossibly good!

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

⬇ Print-Friendly Rugelach Recipe:

Walnut Rugelach Recipe (VIDEO)

4.89 from 53 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
These walnut rugelach are soft, crumbly and flaky. This walnut rugelach recipe is based on Mom's classic recipe and filled with a cranberry-apricot and walnut filling.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 72 rugelach cookies

Ingredients for Rugelach Cookies:

  • 1 cup 226 g unsalted butter, melted (not hot)
  • 1 cup 8oz warm milk (2% or whole milk)
  • 4 cups 500 g all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
  • 3/4 Tbsp active dry yeast

For Rugelach Cookie Filling/ Topping:

  • 10 oz apricot preserves
  • 1 cup Fisher brand walnuts
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries/craisins, (or dried cherries, or raisins)
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Powdered sugar to generously dust cookies

Instructions

How to Make Walnut Rugelach Recipe:

  • In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together 1 cup walnuts, 3/4 cup dried cranberries, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon until ground up.
  • Melt 1 cup butter over low heat (it should be warm, not hot), and add it to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with dough hook attachment. Stir in 1 cup warm milk.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 cups flour (measured correctly*) and 3/4 Tbsp yeast. With mixer on speed 2, add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, letting it incorporate with each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed then continue mixing/kneading the dough another 3-5 mins. Dough should be very soft and won't stick to your hands.
  • Divide dough into 5 pieces and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Work with one piece at a time, rolling it into an 11-inch circle. You should not have to flour the work surface. Spread 3 heaping Tablespoons of preserves evenly over the surface then sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup of the nut mixture.
  • Use a pizza cutter, slice through the circle (just like a pizza), cutting into 12 triangles. Roll each triangle from the outside in then transfer rugelach with the points facing down to a parchment-lined baking sheet.***
  • Let cookies rise in a warm oven (no more than 100˚F) for 30-45 minutes or until noticeably puffed and about 50% larger. Remove from the oven and preheat oven to 350˚F. Bake in preheated oven for 30 min or until tops are lightly golden. Transfer to serving platter while still warm and dust each layer generously with powdered sugar - remember the dough has no sugar in it so don't skimp on this last step :).

Notes

***You can fit them all on a large 3/4 sheet baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about finger width apart, or divide between 2 half sheet pans if you don't have a huge baking pan.
*To measure flour correctly, spoon flour into a dry ingredients measuring cup and scrape off the top, or if you have a scale, weigh out 500 grams.
Course: Cookies, Dessert
Cuisine: Jewish, Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: Walnut Rugelach
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fisher nuts. As always, all opinions and text are my own. Check out all of the Fisher Nuts recipes for more Mother’s Day inspiration.

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

I hope you all have a beautiful Mother’s Day! And if you’re thinking about what to get the Mom’s in your life this Mother’s Day, keep in mind the best gifts are tight hugs, “I love you’s,” and homemade treats of course! 😉

My Mother is famous for her Rugelach Recipe! These walnut-cranberry-apricot rugelach cookies are soft, crumbly, flaky, loaded! They always disappear fast! | natashaskitchen.com

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

Read more posts by Natasha

4.89 from 53 votes (9 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  • E
    June 14, 2024

    Hello Natasha could I substitute active dry yeast for instant yeast ?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      June 15, 2024

      I do think instant would still work in this recipe if that is what you have on hand but i haven’t tested it here to provide those instructions.

      Reply

  • Nylia
    April 26, 2024

    OK, I just saw this recipe so I haven’t tried it yet. I gave it five stars, but I’ve tried many of your recipes and have never been disappointed! My mom uses the recipe that she got from a Jewish friend she had while we live in N.Y. My family making this every Christmas. But the recipe that my family has used is completely different. We use cottage cheese and cream cheese in the batter and then after cutting and rolling we then roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mix. Can’t wait to try your recipe!!! My daughter was diagnosed with celiacs and the cottage cheese recipe has been hard to make gluten free.

    Reply

  • Kris Marie
    December 15, 2023

    Hi Natasha, my rugalachs are in the rising stage, I needed to use two pans. Can I bake two pans at the same time? Thank you.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      December 15, 2023

      Hi Kris! You can try two pans, but I would switch them through the baking process for even baking.

      Reply

  • Frannie in The True North
    September 20, 2023

    Recipe sounds wonderful, like all your recipes! If I’m not using nuts, what adjustments need to be made? Thanks very much…

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      September 20, 2023

      Hi Frannie, we believe the nuts make this recipe, but if you wanted to make it not-free, you can omit the nuts.

      Reply

  • Snezhana
    April 7, 2023

    The most perfect soft yet crunchy cookie! Thank you for the recipe! I filled them with cherry preserves, like the kind you use for cherry pie. I just added one cherry per roll (the way my mom always makes them) and they came out fantastic! My oven bakes hot so I turned my baking time down to 23 minutes. Perfect golden brown goodies!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      April 7, 2023

      Thank you for sharing that with us. That sounds amazing. I’m glad you loved the recipe.

      Reply

  • Deisy
    April 3, 2023

    HI natasha what can I substituted the apricot preserves with? Thanks

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      April 3, 2023

      You can choose another preserve of your choice.

      Reply

  • Renee
    December 20, 2022

    Natasha,
    Can I make the dough a few days in advance and refrigerate until ready to bake?

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      December 20, 2022

      Hi Renee, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe

      Reply

  • Virginia
    December 17, 2022

    Hi Natasha, can you freeze these cookies once they’re baked?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      December 19, 2022

      Hi Virginia! I haven’t tested freezing that but here is what one of our readers wrote: “Made these awhile ago and my husband loved them – to save time wondering if I could divide the dough and then roll out into rectangle place filling onto dough and roll them – like a cake roll and cut (instead of triangles) and they do freeze well.” I hope that helps.

      Reply

  • Valentina
    May 3, 2022

    Hi Natasha, can I make these a few days in advance? How long would they stay fresh for if I keep them in an airtight container? Thanks 🙂

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      May 3, 2022

      Hi Valentina, yes, these can be kept in an airtight container for a couple of days. Just be sure they are completely at room temperature before covering them up

      Reply

    • Mila
      July 6, 2022

      My mom used to cook it with homemade apricot jam, that she made from our apricot tree. So many childhood memories. I will try to find European apricot jam and cook it Tomorrow. Thank you for reminding me about this great recipe.

      Reply

  • Alina
    March 16, 2022

    The best. I even used Nutella for half of these instead of apricot preserve, and both ways are delicious and so easy to make. Thank you.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 17, 2022

      You are very welcome! Thank you for sharing with us.

      Reply

  • Tanya
    March 11, 2022

    Wish I could give this 10 stars! Brought back childhood memories of eating these with tea :). Recipe was very easy to follow, it was my first time working with yeast and dough so I was a bit apprehensive but everything turned out beautifully. Can’t wait to make these again!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      March 11, 2022

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review, Tanya!

      Reply

  • samantha
    January 25, 2022

    hi,
    can you use any type of preserves? has to be apricot? thanks

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      January 25, 2022

      Hi Samantha! you sure can! We love it with apricot though!

      Reply

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