What Are Walnut Crescent Cookies?
They are crumbly, nutty, powdered sugar-topped little crescent-shaped cookies that we serve as sweet treats after our Christmas Eve dinner and our Christmas Day lunch.
These crescent cookies will taste like a nuttier friend of a shortbread cookie. The ground walnuts give them a moister texture so they are crumbly in a melt in your mouth way. And the generous dusting of the vanilla powdered sugar will lift these up to Christmas cookie heights.
The longer you have them there, the more powerful the vanilla flavor will be.
These crescent cookies will taste like a nuttier friend of a shortbread cookie. The ground walnuts give them a moister texture so they are crumbly in a melt in your mouth way. And the generous dusting of the vanilla powdered sugar will lift these up to Christmas cookie heights.
How to make vanilla powdered sugar?
You can buy vanilla sugar online and add them to your powdered or icing sugar (1 small packet to 1/2 cup sugar). Or you can place a vanilla bean in a container of powdered sugar for 1-2 weeks.The longer you have them there, the more powerful the vanilla flavor will be.
Top tips to make perfect Walnut Crescent Cookies?
- Flour your surface – I would suggest rice flour. Rice flour seems to have a non-stick tiny ball-like consistency that just makes working with any dough easier.
- Dust them when they are hot – You need to dust the crescent cookies with powdered sugar while they are hot otherwise the sugar will not stick to them. I usually do that while they are still on the parchment paper as moving them while they are hot is not an easy task.
- Parchment paper instead of a baking sheet – I would recommend using parchment paper instead of a baking sheet especially if you are making multiple batches. You can take out the parchment paper from the sheet pan and bake the next round, while the first round can cool down on its own. If you try to move them while they are hot, they will likely break.
- Place them close – As there is no baking powder, baking soda or any other type of leavening, they will not rise significantly. You can place them relatively close to each other. When are they ready? – If they start to brown, you are too late. The crescent cookies will almost remain the same in color before and after baking.
How long will the cookies last?
They are quick to disappear in my household, so I would say 2-3 days. But if you make a large batch they can last for several weeks.Substituting walnut?
Yes, you can. We use walnut as they are traditionally the main ingredient. But if you don’t have any, you can use ground pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts for sure. See our Gluten-free Flour Guide for more nut meal options.
Substituting coconut sugar?
You need dry sugar for this recipe to work: powdered sugar, icing sugar, anything that is fine and powder-like.
- Course: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Servings: 9 Crescents Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
Makes 9- 115g/4oz/⅔ cup walnuts
- 225g/8oz/1 cup unsalted (sweet) butter
- 115g/4oz/ granulated sugar
- 2.5ml/½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 225g/8oz/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1.5ml/¼ tablespoon salt
- Icing (confectioners') sugar, for dusting
STEPS:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Grind the walnuts in a food processor, blender or nut grinder until they are almost a paste. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add the butter to the walnuts and mix with a wooden spoon until blended. Add the granulated sugar and vanilla, and stir to blend.
- Sift the flour and salt into the walnut mixture. Work into a dough.
- Shape the dough into small cylinders about 4 cm long. Bend into crescents and place evenly spaced on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool only slightly. Set the rack over a baking sheet and dust lightly with icing sugar.