Almond Crescent Cookies: Bake a Difference with OXO

Delicious Almond Crescent Cookies Recipe from cookie expert Dorie Greenspan. This post is part of Baking a Difference with OXO for Cookies For Kids’ Cancer.

This post will help make the world a sweeter place. We all get to enjoy Dorie’s delicious almond crescent cookies plus, as a result of my sharing this recipe with you, OXO will donate $100 towards helping to cure pediatric cancer.

Many bloggers across the country have been invited to participate in OXO’s Bake A Difference campaign Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Each blog post will earn another $100, with a goal of raising $100,000 for the cause.

The effort began back in 2007 as a cookie sale and has since has blossomed into a national non-profit organization that inspires bake sales and other events, and contributed over $7 million to help the fight against pediatric cancer. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be participating in this great cause.

Bake a Difference with OXO has teamed up with James Beard award-winning chef and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, whose latest cookbook – Dorie’s Cookies – will be released this October. The almond crescent cookies recipe I’m sharing with you is from the soon-to be-released cookbook, and these cookies are amazingly delicious: nutty, buttery, vanilla-scented, sugar-dusted, sweet and salty, melt-in-your-mouth perfection! And that’s a big endorsement coming from me because, as my followers and friends know, I’m very picky about desserts.

There are very few dessert recipes on Panning The Globe  but of the 13 dessert recipes on this site, a disproportionate number of them are almond cookies: Spanish Flourless Almond Cookies,  A Trio of Flourless Almond Cookies, and now Dorie’s Almond Crescent Cookies.

There’s something very special about almond cookies, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Almond crescent cookies, also known Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescents), are very popular in Austria and Germany – especially around Christmas time.

In addition to being delicious, the sugar dusting makes the crescents appear to be snow-covered – so fun and festive for Winter and holidays.

HOW TO MAKE DORIE’S ALMOND CRESCENT COOKIES

The recipe is easy. Mix sugar and butter, then beat in vanilla. Add white flour and blend. Add almond flour and mix until just combined.

Then roll and shape the dough….

Bake and enjoy!

Disclosure: For participating in this campaign, OXO provided me with some wonderful cookie baking equipment: a Non-Stick Pro Cookie Sheet, a Baker’s Dusting Wand, and an OXO On Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer. I will be receiving a copy of Dorie’s Cookies when it’s released. All opinions are my own.

Here’s a little more about the OXO baking products I used to bake these cookies:

The Non-Stick Pro Cookie Sheet features a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity. An oversized edge makes it easy to grip and carry to and from oven.

With a quick twist to open and close, and a half-solid, half-perforated globe design, the Baker’s Dusting Wand is designed to prevent clumps, dumps and powdery messes. Perforation allows for evenly floured baking pans and lightly dusted baked goods.

Almond Crescent Cookies: Bake a Difference with OXO

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Nutty, vanilla-scented, sugar dusted, melt-in-your-mouth almond crescent cookies. Traditional for Christmas but delicious any time. Freezable!

• Author: Recipe by Dorie Greenspan from her cookbook Dorie's Cookies
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Yield: 24 Cookies 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: German and Austrian

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (8 ounces; 226 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
• ½ cup (100 grams) sugar
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon pure almond extract, to taste (optional) *Note, I didn’t use any almond extract in my cookies.
• 1¾ cups (238 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1⅓ cups (133 grams) almond flour Granulated or confectioners’ sugar, for coating

Instructions

1. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the almond extract, if you’re using it, then scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the machine off, add the all-purpose flour all at once and then pulse the mixer to start blending. Mix on low speed until the flour is almost incorporated, then add the almond flour and mix only until it disappears into the mixture and the dough comes together.
3. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out walnut-size nuggets of dough or use a tablespoon. Work each piece into a compact ball between your palms and then roll it on the counter into a rope about 4 inches long. Bend the rope into a crescent, pinch the ends lightly and place on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the crescents.
4. Bake for 19 to 21 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back after 10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden at their tips, pale everywhere else and set, but too fragile to lift without breaking. Transfer the baking sheets to racks and let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before you give them the sugar treatment.
5. Put the sugar in a small bowl and, one by one, dredge the cookies in sugar to coat and place on racks to cool. (Note: I dipped the bottoms of the cookies in sugar and used the OXO baker’s dusting wand for the tops. The wand prevents clumping and gives the cookies a snow-covered look.)
6. Storing
7. The dough can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. If you decide to freeze the dough, I think you’ll find it more convenient to shape it first and freeze the crescents; let the crescents come to cool room temperature before baking them. If you omit the sugar coating, the baked cookies can be wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. The baked cookies will keep for about 3 days; give them a fresh dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving.

For more about chef Dorie Greenspan and her books and recipes, visit Dorie’s Website

To learn more about Bake a Difference and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, visit the links below.

Website: Cookies For Kids’ Cancer

Facebook: facebook.com/CookiesForKidsCancer

Twitter: @Cookies4Kids

Pinterest: pinterest.com/Cookies4Kids

Instagram: @Cookies4Kids