During our annual Christmas cookie marathon baking day, my sister and mom had some serious baking issues.  None of their cookies passed inspection.  So naturally, I turned to the Joy of Cooking to find another cookie to save Christmas.  Our criteria for a recipe had to include items already stocked in my pantry and very few steps.

Not only did these tasty little Viennese treats fit the bill but they truly surprised me. They were so ridiculously easy to make and the results were delicious.

For the almonds, I used whole blanched organic almonds and ground them in a food processor until they had a powdery consistency.

Viennese Crescents

*modified recipe from Joy of Cooking*

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

1 cup ground blanched almonds

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets. In a large bowl, combine flour, almonds, cinnamon and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Once creamed, add the sugar, vanilla and almond extract and beat until well combined. Then, gradually add the flour mixture on a low mix speed until well blended.

Next, roll 1-tablespoon pieces of dough into small balls and then shape into crescent shape.  Arrange about ¼ inch apart on the cookie sheets.  Bake until crescents brown, about 13-15 minutes.  Let stand cookies stand briefly and then move them to a wire rack to cool.  Once the cookies have completely cooled, sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar in a large Ziploc storage bag.  Add a few cookies at a time to avoid breaking them and lightly shake the cookies to coat them with sugar.

Yields about forty eight 2¼ cookies.

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