Aren’t these almond crescents the prettiest little cookies you’ve ever seen? I love that they’re so dainty and shimmer with their dusting of sugar. These cookies are perfect for the holidays. They melt in your mouth.
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but when it comes to Christmas sweets, I am a firm believer that anything you put on a little sweet tray to share with company should be dainty, about the size of a toonie, and definitely no bigger than a saltine cracker. Just tiny, proper sweets. Two to three bites, max. These cookies are perfect!
This almond crescent recipe was originally made famous by my Aunt Glenda. She’s been making these cookies for years and they are much loved. I asked her permission to share this recipe with you when she gave it to me last year, but I didn’t find the time to blog them until this year. I made them last year too though, I couldn’t resist. Thanks Glenda, for being so generous as to share this great cookie recipe.
I thought it would be cute to make some of these cookies into little mice too. This recipe worked really well for it, and they are just too stinkin’ cute for words. I even went as far as to get little string licorice tails for them. I love how they turned out. Mouse – what do you think?
If you’re interested, a gluten free variation of these cookies is included below.
Almond Crescents
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
1 1/2 cups ground almonds
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped into slightly smaller pieces
1 cup quick dissolving sugar (fruit sugar)
Mix flour, sugar and ground almonds in a large bowl.
With fingers, work in butter and vanilla until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Chill the dough for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Taking about 1 Tbsp of the cookie dough, form dough into a log and shape into a crescent moon (thicker in the middle and forming slightly-rounded points on the ends).
I made some into these adorable little mice. I used some of my almond slices for the ears. I ADORE how these little guys turned out.
Press the tops of the crescents into the chopped sliced almonds.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool on pan for about 10 minutes.
While the cookies are still a bit warm, roll them in the fruit sugar until coated.
Note: The cookies are very fragile while warm so I usually put the fruit sugar into a bowl, place the cookie on top of the sugar and then use a spoon to generously sprinkle the cookie with sugar. Tap off excess sugar.
Gluten Free Variation: Prepare the recipe as listed above, substituting brown rice flour for the all-purpose flour. Roll them into a slightly flattened ball. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes instead of 10. It is important to allow the cookies to cool for about 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before attempting to dust them with sugar. They are VERY fragile, but taste just as good. Here is my gluten free batch:
[Recipe] Almond Crescent Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups ground almonds
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds chopped into slightly smaller pieces
- 1 cup quick dissolving sugar fruit sugar
Instructions
- Mix flour, sugar and ground almonds in a large bowl.
- With fingers, work in butter and vanilla until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
- Chill the dough for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Taking about 1 Tbsp of the cookie dough (or the size you wish), form dough into a log and shape into a crescent moon (thicker in the middle and forming slightly-rounded points on the ends).
- Press the tops of the crescents into the chopped sliced almonds.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Cool on pan for about 10 minutes.
- While the cookies are still warm, roll them in the fruit sugar until coated.
- Important: The cookies are very fragile while warm so I usually put the fruit sugar into a bowl, place the cookie on top of the sugar and then use a spoon to generously sprinkle the cookie with sugar. Tap off excess sugar.
