Raspberry Rugelach with Hazelnuts

These croissant-shaped little sweet pastries are my new favourite! They are easy and quick to make, they look pretty, and taste fantastic. I first baked rugelach with a chocolate filling, but didn’t like them at all. The dough was great, though, so I made a new attempt with raspberry jam and hazelnuts as filling - and this time I hit the jackpot...!

For 24 rugelach you need:

• 120g butter


• 170g whole-grain spelt flour


• a generous pinch of salt (less generous if using salted butter)


• 120g quark or sour cream

For the filling:

• 200g raspberry jam


• two handfuls of coarsely chopped hazelnuts

To decorate:

• 1 Tbsp vanilla-scented confectioners’ sugar

Cut the butter in small cubes and place in a baking bowl. Add flour and salt, and work with your fingertips until the texture is like fine crumbles. Then add quark or sour cream and work with your hands until you can form the dough into a ball. Then place the dough in your fridge for at least 30 minutes, but you can make the dough even several hours before.

When you take the dough out of the fridge, set your oven to 190 C. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into two 25 cm diameter circles. Cover both circles evenly with raspberry jam and chopped hazelnuts. Cut each circle into 12 triangular pieces, as if you were cutting a pizza. Roll each triangle and form a small crescent. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let your rugelach cool some 10 minutes. Then sprinkle them with confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!

P.S. To make vanilla-flavoured confectioners’ sugar, take a glass jar with a lid. Cut one vanilla pod lengthwise into two pieces and place in the jar. Now fill the jar with confectioners’ sugar, cover, and wait one week or so – and voilà, you’ve got your own vanilla powder sugar!