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Almond Crescent Cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth, classic cookie with nutty, buttery flavor. It’s a quick and easy Christmas cookie perfectly suited for sharing with family and friends.
This post is sponsored by Challenge Butter, but all opinions are my own.
Table of Contents
These Almond Crescent Cookies are a shortbread-like cookie commonly enjoyed during the holidays with tea or coffee. These traditional Austrian Christmas cookies are similar to snowballs and Mexican wedding cookies. They’re crumbly, nutty, and coated in sweet powdered sugar. Almond crescents are quick and easy to make, and perfect for your Christmas cookie tray!
There are several variations of this recipe out there. Some use chopped almonds, some use almond extract, and some use almond flour. Mine uses a little bit of everything. I think it gives the almond cookie the best flavor and texture.
Without the almond extract, the crescent cookies taste a little flat. If you skip the chopped nuts, the cookies miss out on natural flavor and texture. And while almond flour doesn’t actually make these almond crescents taste almondy-y, it does add additional bulk to the cookies without drying them out. I find that these almond cookies are more tender when made with almond flour than when made without.
What You’ll Need
This tasty almond cookie recipe turns basic ingredients into an almond-forward delight. Scroll down to the recipe card for specific quantities.
- Butter: Always important for great flavor. I used my favorite Challenge Butter. Challenge Butter is a high quality butter that goes from farm to fridge in just two days, ensuring that it’s nice and fresh. It has no added hormones, artificial flavors or fillings, so you can feel good about feeding it to your family. If you haven’t tried it before, you definitely need to. The flavor is wonderful and perfect for using in your holiday cookies.
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour: Measure with a food scale or spoon this into your measuring cup bit by bit – never scoop up flour directly, or you’ll over-measure it.
- Almond Flour
- Almonds: Finely chopped
- Powdered Sugar: For coating the cookies
Make the Dough
- Preheat the Oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Prepare Baking Sheets. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Cream the Butter and Sugar. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until it’s light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the Vanilla and Almond Extracts. Add both the vanilla and almond extracts and mix until well combined.
- Add the Dry Ingredients. Add the all-purpose flour and almond flour to to mixture and stir until combined. Take care to not over mix the dough.
- Add the Almonds. Add the chopped almonds and fold in by hand. The dough will be a little crumbly at this point, and that’s what you want to see.
Assemble the Cookies
- Form the Cookies. Take a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) and roll it into a small ball. Shape it into a crescent with your fingers and place it onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat this process with all the remaining dough. You should end up with 25-30 crescents.
- Bake the Cookies. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until they begin to turn golden brown. I wind up baking them for 11 minutes in my oven.
- Cool the Cookies. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Roll the Cookies in Powdered Sugar. Roll the almond crescents in powdered sugar and set aside on a wire wrack. You can roll the cookies while they’re still slightly warm, but the powdered sugar may melt. If this happens, just roll them again.
If your cookie dough seems too crumbly, try forming balls with your hands. If it’ll hold together, then it’s probably fine.
If your dough is so crumbly that it won’t come together, you may have added too much flour. Try adding a teaspoon or two of milk until the dough will come together and form balls. Just don’t add too much or your cookies will spread and lose their shape.
Tips for Success
If you’re not familiar with making almond crescent cookies, take a minute to read over these tips for success. Perfect crumbly, nutty almond cookies are right around the corner!
- Loosely Pack the Flour: In order to not add too much flour to this almond cookie recipe, fill your measuring cup by the spoonful and level it off at the top to prevent overpacking.
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure you bring the ingredients to room temperature before starting to make the dough. If the butter is too cold, you’ll wind up with lumpy dough that isn’t well-combined.
Other Variations to Try
These almond crescent Christmas cookies are pretty versatile. Don’t be afraid to change things up to make them perfect for your own preferences.
- Dip your cookies in chocolate or drizzle them with chocolate.
- Add a touch of ground cinnamon to the powdered sugar and/or the cookie dough.
- Substitute amaretto liqueur for the almond extract.
Storage Instructions
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
You can freeze these crescent cookies for up to 1 month. Freeze them in air-tight freezer-safe bags or in air-tight freezer-safe containers.
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Print
- Prep Time: 1 Hour
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 30 Cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Almond Crescent Cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth sweet almond explosion of flavor. This is a fast and easy Christmas cookie perfectly suited for sharing with family and friends.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted Challenge Butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (138g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour (measured accurately)
- 1 cup (128g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (65g) finely chopped almonds, optional
- 1/2 cup (58g) powdered sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the vanilla and almond extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour and almond flour and mix until combined. Don’t overmix.
- Add the almonds and fold together until combined, but don’t over-mix. The dough will be a little crumbly.
- Take heaping tablespoons (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) one at a time and roll into a small ball, then shape into a crescent. Place onto the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until just before they begin to turn golden. I bake mine for 11 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool and then roll them in the powdered sugar. You can roll them in the powdered sugar when still warm, but it will melt a bit so you’ll probably need to do it again when they’ve cooled.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
