Czech Prune Crescents Recipes

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water.
• Mix flour, salt, sugar.
• Cut in butter or lard.
• Add milk, egg yolks, and yeast.
• Mix well and refrigerate overnight. the dough is VERY soft and you need it to be cold to even work with it ,it does rise in frig very well . i always use gluten in my baking .
• Divide into 4 pieces. use floured hands to do this dough is still soft
• Roll out (EACH PIECE) 1/4 inch thick.
• Spread on filling and roll up like a jelly roll. i sprayed cookie sheet with pam and patted out with floured hands
• Place on a cookie sheet (It doesn't say to make a crescent shape but I think you do here).and you need LARGE COOKIE SHEET. as you see from pictures they rose and spread like crazy
• Let rise 1 hour. (IT DID NOT TAKE AN HOUR FOR ME TO GET DOUBLED ).
• Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Ice with powdered sugar frosting, warm or cold.
• FILLING:.
• Beat 3 egg whites until stiff.
• Add 1 cup sugar.
• Fold in 1 cup cooked cut up prune.

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Pulse butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and flour in a food processor just until a dough forms. (Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough and form into 2 balls, then flatten each ball into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, each wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Make filling:
• Pulse walnuts, prunes, sugar, cinnamon, and Sherry in food processor until nuts are finely chopped and filling forms a thick paste.
• Form and bake crescents:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out 1 disk of dough (keep the other chilled) into a roughly 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out rounds with floured cookie cutter. Chill scraps.
• Put 1/2 teaspoon of filling in center of 1 dough round. Brush some of egg wash halfway around pastry, near edge, then fold dough over filling, forming a half-moon shape. Pinch edges to seal. Make more crescents in same manner, rerolling scraps (but only once).
• Arrange crescents 1/2 inch apart on 2 buttered large baking sheets and lightly brush tops with egg wash. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Steps:

• Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl; beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar into the butter mixture. Slowly beat in the flour; mix well. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• On a well floured board, roll out chilled dough to 1/8 inch. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 2 1/2 inch squares. Spoon approximately 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each square; do not overfill. Fold opposite corners of each square into the middle to encase dough, pinching dough together in center. Filling should peek out a little at each end. Transfer cookies to an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake the kolacky in the preheated oven until set but not brown, about 12 minutes. Remove to racks to cool. Dust cooled kolacky with remaining powdered sugar.

Steps:

• Mix butter with sugar-vanilla.
• Add flour slowly stirring until it is smooth.
• Stir in chopped nuts.
• Dip hands in flour.
• Then shape dough in to small crescent.
• Place on a ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly brown.
• When cool, sprinkle with sugar.