Almond Crescents Kourabiedes Food

KOURABIEDES (GREEK BUTTER COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, beat butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until blended. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and baking powder; gradually stir into butter mixture until blended (mixture will be crumbly). , Shape heaping tablespoons of dough into crescents. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool 15 minutes., Place remaining sugar in a small bowl. Toss slightly cooled cookies in sugar; return cookies to wire rack to cool completely. , Toss cookies in sugar once more before serving. Store in an airtight container, adding any remaining confectioners' sugar to cover cookies.

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.

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.

HEALTHY KOURABIEDES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Toast the walnuts until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Let cool, then chop about half of the nuts.
• Pulse the remaining nuts in the food processor until finely ground.
• Stir the flour, baking powder, salt and nuts together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• In another medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar, egg yolk, amaretto and almond extract together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture gets light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
• At low speed, stir in the nut mixture to make a crumbly dough. Cover the bowl and set dough aside at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or coat with nonstick spray.
• With a tablespoon, scoop pieces of dough and roll into balls between the palms of your hands. Pinch the ends of the balls to make a football shape. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies set and start to brown, about 18 minutes.
• Remove cookies from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place the warm cookies on a bag with 1 cup of confectioners sugar and shake gently to coat with sugar.
• Cool completely and coat in the sugar again. Place the cookies on the rack once more to allow time for the sugar to ader before serving or storing.