Walnut Crescents
Every year, my mother would make walnut crescents as part of her annual Christmas baking repertoire - a formidable collection of recipes. These are the ultimate, melt-in-your-mouth, impossibly delicate, and moreish walnut crescents. Despite their Christmassy epithet, they’re a necessary and very welcome comfort at any time. Especially if you need a little something with your morning coffee.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups shelled walnuts
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
- Generous pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat just until they give off a nutty aroma, which ought to take no more than a few minutes. Dump the walnuts on a plate and let cool to room temperature.
- Blitz the walnuts in a food processor until pulverized. Return the walnuts to the plate. Pour the sugar into the food processor and blitz just to break up any lumps. Now add the soft butter to the sugar and process again to combine. Then add the flour and salt and process yet again. Open the lid of the processor, scrape down the sides, then return the walnuts to the processor and pulse just until everything is combined.
- Turn the dough onto your work surface. It will be sticky yet firm enough to mold with your hands. If it's too mushy, wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in a resealable plastic bag and toss it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
- To shape the walnut crescent dough into half moons, flour your hands and take scant tablespoons of the dough. Roll them into sausages about 2 1/2 inches long, and then slightly flatten the sausage as you curl it gently to form a crescent. Place the crescents on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the crescent cookies for 15 to 20 minutes. When done, the cookies will still be quite soft but the tops will be firm and beginning to turn pale brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes before you transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Be careful as the cookies will be very fragile.
- Push some confectioners's sugar through a fine sieve into a shallow bowl to remove any lumps. Dredge the cooled cookies in the confectioners' sugar and turn to coat them thickly. We think you can take it from here.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 105kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 1mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g