← Nouns Cooking · Bakery

Ingredients

• 250 g plain flour
• 100 g finely ground almonds
• 70 g Icing sugar
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 200 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or the seeds of 1 pod
• 80 g icing sugar, for coating
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla sugar

Method

1. Mix the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar and salt in a bowl. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips (or pulse in a food processor) until it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and knead briefly into a smooth dough; stop as soon as it comes together. Shape into a log, wrap and chill for 30 min.
3. Heat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan, 340°F) and line two baking trays. Cut the dough into 40 pieces (about 15 g each). Roll each into a 7 cm sausage with tapered ends and curve it into a crescent on the tray.
4. Bake one tray at a time for 10–12 min until the tips are only just golden; the rest should stay pale.
5. Meanwhile, mix the coating icing sugar with the vanilla in a shallow bowl. Let the crescents cool for 2 min (they are very fragile), then gently toss them in the vanilla sugar while still warm. Cool completely and roll them once more.

Tips

• Contains tree nuts (almonds); ground hazelnuts or walnuts are also traditional.
• Keep your hands cool and work quickly: if the dough warms up, the crescents crack. Stored airtight they keep for 2 weeks.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Once Upon a Chef Wikibooks Cookbook