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    Almond Crescent Christmas Cookies

    Published: Dec 12, 2012 / 21 Comments

    20.0K shares
    • Facebook251
    Recipe Print

    These Almond Crescent Christmas Cookies are classic holiday cookies, perfect for your Christmas cookie box. They are easy to make, and they freeze well. The best cookie recipe ever!

    almond crescent cookies

    Almond crescent-shaped Christmas cookies... I've been waiting to make them a whole year. One of my most favorite Christmas cookies, even their name - CRESCENT - opens your imagination to something whimsical and winterish, evoking images of Nordic mythology, Lord of the Rings, or simply crescent moon suspended over winter land. I adore crescent shape in these almond holiday cookies. By the way, did you know that Crescent means Croissant in French? Yes, the bread roll was named Croissant for its crescent-like shape. I didn't know that until today. Maybe, I am the only one who did not know that: it never crossed my mind that croissant sounds a lot like a crescent. Croissants are worth making, too, if for their crescent shape alone (one more thing to add to my "to-do" list).

    These almond crescent Christmas cookies are a must for your holiday cookie box!

    almond crescent cookies

    The cookies look giant on these photos, but in reality they are tiny and you could eat each cookie in one bite. Funny how if you put small cookies to occupy all of the space on a small plate or if you take a really close up photo, it makes cookies look tremendous.

    It was my husband's favorite holiday cookie this winter and each time he ate one (well, probably not one but quite a few at a time), he said it brought him back to his childhood when his mom used to bake them a lot.

    almond crescent cookies

    Needless to say, the almond crescent cookies did not last long, either, just like almond shortbread cookies with Amaretto didn't and Christmas cranberry noels didn't. However, in an improbable case that these cookies did last (which would only be possible if I had a lot of other equally yummy cookies laying around), then they could be kept in airtight container for about a month, and you can also freeze them. Not only pretty and delicious, but very practical holiday cookies indeed.

    This is what the cookie dough looks like when you make it in the food processor:

    making the cookie dough in the food processor

    Shape the cookie dough as a disk and wrap it in a plastic wrap, then put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then refrigerate it for 30 minutes:

    wrapping cookie dough in plastic wrap

    Place crescent shaped cookies on a cookie sheet:

    placing crescent shaped cookies on cookie sheet

    Almond crescent cookies are cooled and dusted with powdered sugar:

    almond crescent cookies

    almond crescent cookies
    4.75 from 8 votes

    Almond Crescent Christmas Cookies

    These Almond Crescent Christmas Cookies are classic holiday cookies, perfect for your Christmas cookie box.  They are easy to make, and they freeze well.  The best holiday cookie recipe ever!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Time 45 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 20 cookies
    Calories per serving 171 kcal

    Ingredients

    • ⅔ cup almonds blanched, sliced, toasted
    • ½ cup white sugar
    • 1 cup unsalted butter cold, just out of refrigerator
    • 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour sifted or aerated (see important note below!)
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting

    Instructions 

    Important note about properly measuring flour using measuring cups:

    • The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough! 

    How to make almond crescent cookies:

    • Put almonds and sugar into the food processor and process until almonds are finely ground. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to the food processor. Process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
    • Add flour and salt to the food processor, process until dough forms, scraping the sides of the food processor bowl with a spatula if necessary. And by the way, ½ cup white sugar is more than enough for 1 ⅔ cups of flour because you will be sprinkling each cookie with powdered sugar in the end.
    • Shape dough as a disk, wrap it in a plastic wrap, put in the freezer for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Or refrigerate it for at least 2 hours.
    • Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit.
    • Divide dough into 4 portions and work with each portion separately, keeping the rest of the dough in the refrigerator to keep it cold. Pinch a portion of the dough and roll it between the palms of your hands in a small ball, then into a small cylinder. When you roll each ball, the cold dough will become more malleable. Form each cylinder into a crescent shape with pointed ends.
    • Place each crescent on an ungreased cookie sheet and keep the cookie sheet with crescent-shaped cookies in the refrigerator until all cookies are shaped. Also, keep the dough in the refrigerator when not using it. It is important to keep cookie dough cold before baking to achieve the right cookie consistency. The cookies will require 2 cookie sheets.
    • Bake for about 12-15 minutes until cookies are set but not brown.
    • Cool cookies on a wire rack. Using sifter, sprinkle cookies with powdered sugar.

    Notes

    Adapted from NY Times.

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Information
    Almond Crescent Christmas Cookies
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    171
    % Daily Value*
    Fat
     
    11
    g
    17
    %
    Saturated Fat
     
    6
    g
    38
    %
    Cholesterol
     
    24
    mg
    8
    %
    Sodium
     
    16
    mg
    1
    %
    Potassium
     
    47
    mg
    1
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    15
    g
    5
    %
    Sugar
     
    6
    g
    7
    %
    Protein
     
    2
    g
    4
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    285
    IU
    6
    %
    Calcium
     
    17
    mg
    2
    %
    Iron
     
    0.7
    mg
    4
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition Disclaimer:

    The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

    Tried this recipe?Be sure to leave a comment and provide a Star Rating below - I love your feedback and try to respond to every comment!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. leena

      December 24, 2018 at 12:05 am

      My cookies spread during baking and look a bit more like blobs... any idea what I did wrong? What should I try changing next time?

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 11, 2019 at 6:27 pm

        Did you cool the cookie dough as instructed in the recipe? Also, did you keep the cookie sheets cold as well, as you were molding the cookies? If cookies spread during baking, it means the cookie dough was not cold enough.

        Reply
    2. Margaret

      September 06, 2018 at 2:35 pm

      Why is there no almond extract or vanilla flavoring in this recipe?

      Reply
      • Julia

        September 11, 2018 at 11:30 am

        I've used toasted almonds to give almond flavor to these cookies.

        Reply
    3. Margaret

      September 06, 2018 at 2:33 pm

      Why is there no almond extract or vanilla flavoring listed in this recipe?

      Reply
    4. Elizabeth

      December 23, 2013 at 5:41 pm

      Just tried making them and apparently my fridge is too cold 🙁 I had to let them warm up to even pinch any off.

      Other then that, I found when I tried to shape them, they would crumble apart when they were bent, what would have caused this?

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 26, 2013 at 2:56 pm

        Elizabeth, the most likely reason is using too much flour. When I measure my flour I fluff it up or sift it, so that it’s not packed in a measuring cup. Flour tends to overpack when it's sitting in a container, and if you just grab it with a measuring cup it will get even more packed in a cup. What I do is I usually use a smaller measuring cup (1/3 cup) as a scooper, fill half of it with flour and then I pour the flour from that measuring cup into the one I am using for actual measurement. That way the flour gets fluffed up and gets some air - it's very similar to sifting the flour. Most recipes actually call for sifted flour. How do you measure your flour?

        Reply
    5. Laura Dembowski

      December 15, 2012 at 9:47 am

      I love all the Christmas cookie recipes I'm seeing out there. These look wonderful. Love the photo without the cookies, just their outline in the sugar. Photography is a very cool and interesting thing. It can really make you believe something is way bigger than it is. I have been doing a lot of jewelry shopping, and I wish it looked like it does on the computer screen in person 😉

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 15, 2012 at 2:00 pm

        Thank you, Laura. And, you're right, photography is tricky sometimes and makes things look bigger than they appear. Unless, of course, we're talking about your giant cookie. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Nancy /SpicieFoodie

      December 14, 2012 at 4:57 pm

      What beautiful cookies! They are one of my favorites too. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    7. Angie@Angie's Recipes

      December 13, 2012 at 10:23 pm

      We call them Vanillekipferl over here, and they are a must-have during the holiday season. Yours look absolutely perfect!

      Reply
    8. The Café Sucré Farine

      December 13, 2012 at 4:47 pm

      I've always loved these cookies but have never made them myself. Yours are so pretty and bring back great memories of enjoying these as a child!

      Reply
    9. Melanie

      December 13, 2012 at 12:37 pm

      These looks amazing and light (and even better, not too hard to make myself!) Fantastic photos too - love the blue Christmas feel.

      Reply
    10. Rosa

      December 13, 2012 at 11:51 am

      Lovely almond crescents! Those cookies are addictive.

      Cheers,

      Rosa

      Reply
    11. Hannah

      December 13, 2012 at 7:01 am

      Such a beautiful photo... The cookies of course look fantastic, but that festive scene alone is enough to make me want to turn on the oven right now. I need more holiday cheer, and these cookies would surely provide it!

      Reply
    12. Ashley

      December 12, 2012 at 7:12 pm

      I need to try these - I love anything remotely similar to snowballs : ) Croissants are on my must-try list too... now if only I could find the time!

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 12, 2012 at 7:14 pm

        They remind me of snowballs too. That's another thing on my list - snowball-shaped cookies!

        Reply
    13. john@kitchenriffs

      December 12, 2012 at 6:21 pm

      Great cookie! I love the shape and the flavor. My mom used to bake something similar when I was a tad, but these look tremendous. Good stuff - thanks.

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 12, 2012 at 7:13 pm

        They do look tremendous on these photos, didn't notice that before. They're actually pretty small - a bite or two, no more.

        Reply
    14. Kayle (The Cooking Actress)

      December 12, 2012 at 3:05 pm

      Ooooh these cookies are so lovely and look so yummy!

      Reply
      • Julia

        December 12, 2012 at 7:12 pm

        Thank you! They WERE so yummy. All gone now.

        Reply

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