Cardamom Walnut Crescent Cookies

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Cardamom Walnut Crescent Cookies ~ classic Swedish Christmas cookies made with a buttery shortbread dough packed with walnuts and a hint of warm cardamom.

Ingredients

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ¾ cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 cup ( 2 sticks) unsalted cold butter (cut in pieces)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (you can use 1 tsp almond extract instead if you like)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• coating
• ½ cup confectioner's sugar,

Method

1. Put the walnuts, cardamom, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Then process until the walnuts are finely ground.
2. Add in the pieces of COLD butter and vanilla and pulse/process until the butter is fully incorporated.
3. Add the flour and salt, and pulse to combine. Then process just long enough so that the dough comes together. I do a combination of pulsing and processing so everything gets thoroughly mixed, but not over mixed.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and bring it together with floured hands. Divide it into 3 pieces. Roll each piece out into a 1 1/2 inch rope. Wrap in plastic wrap and twist the ends securely. Refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours. You can leave the dough logs refrigerated for up to a few days if you want to make them ahead. You can also freeze them.
5. Preheat oven to 350F
6. Working with one log at a time, (keeping the others refrigerated) cut it into 1 inch pieces, and then form those into crescents with your hands. The original recipe says to freeze the cookies for 20 minutes at this point. FYI ~ I found that didn't make much of a difference so I skipped it. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes until the cookies are set but not browned. They should just be beginning to show a little golden color around the edges, but that's it.
7. Remove and let the cookies cool on the pan.
8. Coat the cookies in powdered sugar after they've cooled. You can also coat them when they are still slightly warm, your choice.
9. Cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island