Almond Crescents
Instructions:
- YOU’LL FIND THESE simple cookies throughout Europe, where they are especially popular as part of Christmas cookie platters, decorated with copious amounts of confectioners’ sugar.
- 21â„ 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, preferably organic
- 1â„ 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1â„ 2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 12℠3 cups golden baker’s or superfine sugar
- 11â„ 2 cups almond flour ( see Note)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Position oven racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the butter in the bowl of a standing heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at high speed until the butter is smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla, then 2â„3 cup of the sugar. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the ground almonds, then the flour mixture. Add the beaten egg and mix just until the dough comes together.
- Place the remaining 1 cup of sugar in a wide bowl. For each cookie, pinch off a 1-inch piece of dough and roll into a small log. Bend the ends toward each other to form a crescent moon. Roll in the reserved sugar and place 1 inch apart on the cookie sheets.
- Bake until the cookies are golden brown, switching the positions of the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on the sheets for a few minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire cake rack to cool completely. (The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 week.)
- NOTE: Almond flour (also called almond meal), which is just very finely ground almonds, can be found at natural food stores and many supermarkets. Depending on where you buy it, it can be quite reasonable or very expensive, so shop around. You can make your own in a pinch, but because it is chopped and not ground, the texture will be a bit rougher than almond flour and the cookies will have a more rustic crunch. Combine 11â„2 cups of sliced natural almonds with 1â„4 cup of the flour from the recipe in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until the almonds are very finely chopped into a powder, at least 30 seconds. (The flour acts as a buffer and keeps the nuts from turning into butter.)