Cardamom-Walnut Crescents
Updated May 2, 2024
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Cook Time
- 18 to 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
- ¼cup sugar
- 1cup all-purpose flour
- ¾cup walnuts halves
- ¼pound unsalted butter, chilled and cut in to ½-inch pieces
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½teaspoon grated orange zest
- ⅛teaspoon salt
- ⅓cup sugar
- ¼vanilla bean
For the Dough
For the Vanilla Sugar
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
97 calories; 6 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 13 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
For the Dough
- Step 1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all dough ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until the dough resembles coarse meal. Then process continuously until it begins to gather together.
- Step 2
Roll 2 teaspoons dough at a time into half moon shapes. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake until firm to touch, about 18 to 20 minutes.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, combine the vanilla sugar ingredients in a food processor until the vanilla bean is pulverized.
- Step 4
When cookies are done, let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack. Sift the vanilla sugar over them immediately. Continue cooling for 15 minutes. The cookies may be stored in an airtight container up to 5 days.
Private Notes
Comments
I covered the dough w/plastic wrap to make a log, then refrigerated over night. It was so easy to cut 1/4" slice then cut it in half again, using my fingers to push the dough into an EXAGGERATED crescent shape---mine looked like slightly curved slugs with only a slight crescent. The texture is almost ethereal. For the 8/2017 (partial) eclipse, I painted the interior crescent side with melted chocolate chips. The cardamom/orange flavor held up against the chocolate---yummy!
It is absolutely crucial to chill the dough before & after shaping and most importantly, let the cookies cool in the pan for at least the 5 mins recommended. I think that's why other bakers complained about the crumbling. I did use all the zest from a large orange & about a scant teaspoon of cardamom. The taste is lovely.
These are easy, delicious and ethereally light. I used freshly ground green cardamom seeds to amp up the flavor. Jarred ground cardamom is a pale shadow of fresh. Next time I might skip the vanilla sugar topping to get an even less sweet result.
These are wonderful. They got rave reviews.
Delicious! Definitely use freshly ground cardamom and chill the dough thoroughly before baking.
Used Fiori di Sicilia instead of orange zest (thought I had an orange at home and didn’t). Turned out excellent. I did not have any issues with shaping/crumbling as reported by others. Very few escaped my mouth and actually ended up in my Christmas cookie boxes. Easy, delicious, resilient. All-timer.