Viennese Crescent Holiday Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
• In small bowl, mix flour, almond meal and salt, stirring well with wire whisk. In large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until blended. Refrigerate 10 minutes.
• Shape dough into 40 (2-inch) logs; bend logs to form crescent shape. Place crescents 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks; sprinkle cookies with powdered sugar.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Combine flour and ground almonds; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. , Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/4-in. round cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Spread jam on the bottoms of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip half of each sandwich cookie into chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Using a small, sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a small bowl. Discard the pod. Add 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar and use a mortar or the back of a spoon to pound and mix them together. Add the remaining confectioners' sugar and stir to combine. Cover and let stand at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Vanilla sugar can be made ahead and stored, in an airtight container at room temperature, indefinitely.
• Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and a second rack in the lower third then preheat to 350°F.
• Using a food processor, grind the walnuts into a chunky paste then transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until completely incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add the flour in 3 batches and stir until a smooth dough forms, about 2 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, shape heaping tablespoons of dough into 3- to 4-inch-long ropes, tapering the ends. Curve each rope into a crescent shape. Transfer to a baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake, switching the cookies between the upper and lower racks about halfway through baking, until light golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Let the cookies cool 2 to 3 minutes then carefully roll them in vanilla sugar and place on racks to cool completely. Continue baking cookies on cooled baking sheets. DO AHEAD: The cookies can be baked ahead and stored, in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Chop vanilla bean. Pound it in a mortar or pulverize it in an electric blender with about one tablespoon of the confectioner's sugar. Mix with the remaining confectioners' sugar. Cover and let stand, preferably overnight. Reserve while cookies are baked.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut walnuts with a sharp knife into very small pieces. Pound the pieces to a paste, using mortar and pestle.
• With a wooden spoon or the fingers, mix walnuts, butter, granulated sugar and flour to a smooth dough. Shape dough, about a teaspoon at a time, into small crescents about one and a half inches in diameter.
• Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet until lightly browned, or 15 to 18 minutes. Cool one minute. While still warm, roll cookies in prepared vanilla sugar.

Steps:

• in a mixing bowl, combine flour, butter, nuts, confectioners' sugar, salt, and vanilla. hand mix until roughly blended.
• shape dough into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• remove dough from fridge and form into 1 inch balls. shape each ball into a small log, about 3 inches long. place rolls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, curving each one into a crescent.
• bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are set but not brown.
• let sit 1 minute, then remove from cookie sheet. place cookies on aluminum foil, then dust with 1 cup of sugar.
• store in an airtight container, then dust with remaining sugar just before serving.