Almond Crescent Cookie's​

• Prep Time: 1 hour (includes chilling)
• Cook Time: 14 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
• Yield: 36 cookies

With their delicate almond flavor, crumbly shortbread texture, and sweet powdered sugar coating, almond crescent cookies are a traditional favorite around the holidays, but can (and should!) be enjoyed year round. These are a wonderful make-ahead option, as the shaped cookie dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.

Ingredients​

• 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 and 1/3 cups (292g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 Tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
• 3/4 cup (75g) finely chopped sliced almonds (use a food processor)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Coating​

• 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar

Instructions​

1. Line a large baking sheet or a couple large plates (whatever your refrigerator has room for) with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Add the flour, cornstarch, almonds, and salt. Beat on low speed until mostly combined, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the dough fully comes together. The dough will be super thick, to the point where you don’t think it will combine. Just keep mixing until it clumps together. If absolutely needed, beat in a couple drops of water to get it to come together.
3. Scoop 1 Tablespoon (20g) of cookie dough and shape into a crescent moon. Place on the lined baking sheet/plate, and repeat with remaining cookie dough. (The shaped cookies can be close together in this step, as you’ll separate them on lined baking sheets to bake.) Refrigerate the shaped cookies for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. If refrigerating for longer than a couple of hours, cover the dough.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Arrange the chilled cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottom edges and just barely browned on top, 14–16 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Coating: Gently roll each crescent cookie in the confectioners’ sugar to coat completely.
7. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes​

1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and coated cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Unbaked, shaped cookie dough crescents freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough crescents for an extra minute, no need to thaw. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial.
2. Special Tools (affiliate links): Food Processor | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Cooling Rack or this Gold Cooling Rack
3. Almond to Use: I use raw sliced almonds, usually sold in the baking aisle with the other nuts. Do not use salted almonds.
4. To Toast the Almonds: Spread raw sliced almonds in a single layer on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes at 300°F (149°C). Let them cool before chopping/grinding.
5. Other Nuts: You can also use finely chopped/ground pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans, or walnuts. If using another nut, I still recommend adding almond extract. Feel free to reduce the amount of almond extract down to 1/2 teaspoon.
6. Can I Use Almond Flour? I strongly recommend grinding up almonds yourself, so you get a coarse and gritty texture. This way you will really be able to taste the almond. In a pinch, you can use store-bought coarse almond meal, but do not use fine almond flour. Your cookie dough won’t come together very well and the cookies, following the recipe otherwise, will taste dry.
7. If You Don’t Have a Food Processor: If you don’t have a food processor, chop sliced almonds as finely as possible with a sharp knife.

 

[Abby22]

They sound YUM