Greek Nut Crescents
Photo Credit : Michael PiazzaThis recipe for Greek Nut Crescents appeared in February 1958 in an article by Duncan MacDonald, then Yankee’s food editor and lifestyle maven. In an article celebrating the influx of European cuisines to postwar America, she included recipes for halva (spiced semolina pudding), loukoumathes (honey-coated fried-dough pastries), and these crescent cookies, kourabiedes.
Essentially shortbread with nuts, they’re similar to Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies. You can make them with any nuts you like: hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, or walnuts. These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days, and they also freeze well—just dust them with another coat of powdered sugar once they’ve thawed to room temperature.
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Yield:
about 50 cookiesIngredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 21/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups very finely chopped nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, or pecans (a food processor is ideal for this job)
Instructions
Using a standing or electric mixer, beat the butter until very creamy, 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup sugar, plus the salt and vanilla, and beat well. Add the flour and nuts, and beat until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350° and position the racks in the middle, with space in between. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Break off a tablespoon-size piece of dough, roll it into a cylinder, turn it into a crescent shape, and transfer it to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until browned on the bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies gently with the remaining 2-1/2 cups of powdered sugar to coat. Repeat once cookies have cooled.
Amy Traverso
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
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