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.
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