Liqueur adds punch to flavour profile of apricot rugelach Homemade Holidays
By: Eva Wasney Posted: 2:00 AM CST Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025

The first recipe in this year’s Homemade Holiday series is a hands-on pastry that plays with tradition.

Harriet Zaidman’s mother made rugelach — a classic Hanukkah dessert — with yeasted dough and cinnamon-sugar filling. While the family recipe was delicious, this cream cheese version with a boozy twist has become her holiday go-to.

“I like to try new recipes, and every year or so a bunch of colleagues from the school where I worked would get together and bake. At one of these Saturday sessions, my principal (an excellent baker) taught me to make these rugelach. Adding the liqueur to the taste made the recipe even better,” says the retired teacher and author, who publishes recipes on her food blog, North End Nosh.

“For me, it’s all about sharing … I really enjoy hearing from people who say they’ve tried a recipe and it’s become a favourite.”

Perhaps Zaidman’s Boozy Apricot Rugelach will become one of those new favourites.

Boozy Apricot Rugelach

Dough

250 ml (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

250 ml (1 cup) cream cheese

125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar

3 large egg yolks

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla

Pinch salt

580 ml (2 1/3 cups) flour, plus more for dusting

Filling

250 ml (1 cup) apricot jam

Pinch salt

75 to 90 ml (5 to 6 tbsp) Cointreau or Grand Marnier

125 to 250 ml (1/2 to 1 cup) brown sugar

15 ml (1 tbsp) cinnamon

125 ml (1/2 cup) walnuts, chopped (optional)

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk

5 ml (1 tsp) water

Sanding or crystal sugar

To make the dough, use an electric mixer or food processor to beat the butter and cream cheese together at medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the vanilla and salt, beat to combine. Reduce speed to low and add flour.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into thirds. Flatten dough into discs and wrap each individually in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

In a bowl, combine the jam and salt. Add liqueur 15 ml (1 tbsp) at a time until you’re satisfied with the taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Roll out the chilled dough discs on plastic wrap or a lightly floured surface to 30 cenimetres (12 inches) in diameter and 3 millimetres (1/8-inch) thick. Brush the jam and liqueur mixture onto the dough thinly and sparingly, as any extra jam will spill out during baking.

Sprinkle walnuts, if using, over the jam mixture, gently pressing nuts into the dough. Follow with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Cut the dough into 16 wedges and roll each cookie from wide edge to point, forming crescent shapes and pressing the points to seal the seam. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and wipe up any jam that leaks onto the paper.

In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolk and water together. Brush on top of the cookies and sprinkle with sugar.

​Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If the jam has leaked out onto the parchment paper, trim away the excess filling with a knife or cookie cutter as soon as you remove the pan from the oven.

— Harriet Zaidman

Homemade Holidays is an annual Free Press tradition featuring 12 festive desserts published over 12 days in December. Visit winnipegfreepress.com/homemade to find this year’s batch of reader-submitted recipes.

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