Almond Chocolate Crescents Food

CHOCOLATE ALMOND CRESCENTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in almonds and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours or until firm enough to shape., Preheat oven to 350°. Shape 2 teaspoons of dough into 2-in.-long logs; form each log into a crescent. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Dip cookies halfway into melted chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. If desired, sprinkle with coconut. Let stand until set. Cover dipped ends of cookies with waxed paper; dust undipped ends with confectioners' sugar. Store between pieces of waxed paper in airtight containers.

ALMOND CRESCENTS III

Steps:

• Mix together shortening and confectioner's sugar and water. Stir in flour, salt, vanilla and almonds. Mix well.
• Form dough with hands into 3 inch lengths about pencil thin.
• Bake on ungreased sheet in a preheated 300 degrees F oven (150 degrees C) for 20 minutes.
• While cookies cool, melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a bowl in the microwave. When cookies are completely cool, dip one half in melted chocolate.

ALMOND CRESCENT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Beat butter and confectioners' sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt; mix briefly to incorporate. Gradually stir 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour into the creamed butter, add almonds, and mix until dough is just combined.
• Shape dough into tiny crescents; place on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Bake cookies in preheated oven until edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Roll cookies in sifted confectioners' sugar when cooled.

CHOCOLATE ALMOND CRESCENT COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350º.
• In a small bowl, combine ground almonds, powdered sugar, and almond extract.
• Stir in egg white.
• Melt chocolate in a small dish and stir into almond mixture, mixing in well.
• Allow crust to come to room temperature (or if you can't wait to get started, heat for about 20 seconds on defrost in your microwave).
• Unfold/ unroll both pie crusts as directed on package (if you are making your own pie crusts, form both of them in a round circle measuring 11" across).
• Place one pie crust on top of the other (this is just to simplifiy the amount of cutting you will do, you can do it one layer at a time if you like) and place on cutting board.
• Cut crusts in half, in half again making 4 sections, in half again, making 8 wedges, and then each of the eight wedges, cut in thirds, creating 24 wedges.
• Place about 1/2 teaspoon of almond filling at the wide end of each wedge.
• If you chose to stack the crusts, roll the top layer first, roll up starting with widest end of wedge, rolling to opposite point.
• Place point side down on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Repeat with second layer.
• These cookies can be placed quite close to each other as the will shrink just a little while baking.
• I usually have 24 cookies on one cookie sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until very light golden brown.
• Remove from cookie sheet to a wire cooling rack that has waxed paper underneath.
• Cool completely.
• In a small bowl, make glaze by mixing powdered sugar, almond extract and stirring in milk gradually to reach desired glazing consistency (I like mine a little thicker).
• Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

ALMOND CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Finely grind nuts, flour and salt in processor. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla and almond extracts in large bowl until light. Add nut mixture and beat just until blended. Cover; chill until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 2 heavy large baking sheets. For each cookie, roll 1 rounded tablespoonful dough into cylinder; pinch ends to taper. Place in crescent shape on baking sheet. Bake until bottoms of cookies are just golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks. Cool cookies. Sift 1/4 cup powdered sugar over. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

ALMOND CRESCENTS RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Mix butter and sugar in large bowl with wooden spoon until blended. Gradually add flour, stirring after each addition until blended. Stir in nuts.
• Shape into 2-inch crescents, using 1 Tbsp. dough for each. Place, 2 inches apart, on parchment- or foil-covered baking sheets.
• Bake 12 to 15 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 2 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
• Melt chocolate as directed on package. Dip one end of each cookie in chocolate; top with nuts. Return to wire racks; let stand until chocolate is firm.

ALMOND CRESCENTS

Steps:

• In a food processor, process the almonds and sugar until the almonds are ground very finely. Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy.
• Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour and sprinkle the salt on top. Pulse it just until the flour is incorporated.
• Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a thick disk and wrap it tightly. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 2 hours.
• For the topping, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until uniform in color.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Divide the dough into 8 portions. Work with 1 section at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough refrigerated. Knead the dough between floured hands until malleable. Pinch off a portion of the dough and roll it into a 1-inch-round ball.
• On a lightly floured counter, roll each ball into a cylinder with tapered ends, about 3 inches long by 1/2 inch thick. Form each cylinder into a crescent shape and place on an ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. The cookies will require two cookie sheets, one for the middle rack in the oven and one for the lower one.
• Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until set but not brown. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking period.
• Cool the cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes. While they are still warm, use a small angled metal spatula or pancake turner to lift them from the sheets and dip them, one at a time, in the cinnamon sugar, turning gently to coat all over. Finish cooling the cookies on wire racks.
• To store, place the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month or freeze for as many as several months.