Almond Crescent Cookies

These Almond Crescent Cookies are a nutty, buttery shortbread dipped in dark chocolate. I like to use almond flour because it has a finer texture but ground almonds will work just as well. This recipe is from the Great British Bake Off: Celebrations cook book, which uses metric measurements. While I enjoy baking with my kitchen scale and notice that measuring by weight is more precise, I converted the recipe below using volume measurements (cups, teaspoons, etc.) because I know that is what most of my family and friends use.

Cookie Dough

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup (60g) powdered sugar

2/3 cup (85g) all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 1/3 cups (125g) almond flour or ground almonds

Decoration

2-3 tablespoons ground almonds

1/3 cup (60g) dark chocolate chips

• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

• In a large bowl, beat the butter and almond extract with an electric mixer.

• Sift in the confectionary sugar. Beat well until the mixture is paler in color.

• Sift in the all-purpose flour, almond flour (or ground almonds) and salt.

• Mix everything to make a firm dough. Using your hands works great at this point.

• Cover the bowl with a towel or wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Place dough in fridge for 10-20 minutes. Keeping the buttery dough chilled will help the crescents keep their shape.

• Take dough out of the fridge. Scoop up a heaping a teaspoon of dough. Shape the dough by hand into a log about as long and wide as your index finger. Bend to make a crescent shape.

• Place crescents slightly apart on the lined baking sheets.

• Loosely cover cookies with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for another 10 minutes.

• In the meantime, heat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.

• Take the cookies out of the fridge and uncover them.

• Bake for about 15 minutes. You know the cookies are done when they are still pale but have golden edges.

• Cool completely.

• To decorate, gently melt your favorite dark chocolate chips with a double boiler.

• Spoon the melted chocolate over one edge of each crescent. Lightly sprinkle with ground almonds.

• Once the chocolate has cooled, store cookies in an air-tight container. Almond Crescents keep well at room temperature for about a week and freeze well for up to 3 months.

Recipe from The Great British Bake Off: Celebrations cook book by Linda Collister.