BAKE: Yule Moon Crescent Cookies

• Yule Moon Crescent Cookie Ingredients
• Equipment & Method for Yule Moon Cookies
• How to Bake Yule Moon Crescent Cookies
• Yule Moon Crescent Cookies

These rich, buttery Yule moon crescent cookies are a rich, nutty shortbread sprinkled with snow-white powdered sugar. They’re one of my favorite Christmas cookies, and I don’t think a holiday cookie plate is complete without them.

They don’t require any rolling or long pre-chilling of the dough before you can shape them, and are easy and quick to mix and shape by hand without specialty tools. The crescent shape is simple enough for even your little helpers to make, so definitely try these if you’re baking with kids.

Yule Moon Crescent Cookie Ingredients

Flour:

I use unbleached all purpose flour in these Yule moon cookies. You could try substituting whole wheat pastry flour for a portion of the whole wheat flour, though you may need to add a little less, since the bran will absorb more moisture than regular flour, and your cookies will be less tender than ones made with all purpose flour.

Butter:

Fresh, sweet or cultured butter is crucial to the flavor and texture of these crescent cookies. You can use salted or unsalted butter, with an adjustment in the added salt as noted below.

Ground Nuts:

I always make these with coarsely ground walnuts, though you could also use ground almonds or hazelnuts. I think the buttery richness of the walnuts goes perfectly with the sandy shortbread texture.

I like to grind the nuts from whole or pieces, though you can buy them pre-ground. They go stale quickly though, so I like to make my own. Pulse them in a food processor until they are coarsely ground.

You can also chop them finely with a chef’s knife on a cutting board, or use a large mortar and pestle to break them up. Don’t grind them completely into nut butter though, which is easy to do with the food processor or mortar and pestle.

Sugar:

Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar gives these crescent cookies an extra tender, crumbly texture.

Vanilla:

Use pure vanilla extract of good quality if you can get it, or homemade vanilla extract if you have it.

Salt:

Use just a pinch of salt if you are using salted butter, otherwise, use 1/2 teaspoon of fine sea salt or 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

Equipment & Method for Yule Moon Cookies

Stand Mixer and Paddle attachment:

This dough comes together in a flash with a stand mixer, though you can use a hand-held mixer, or mix these by hand in a sturdy mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.

Food Processor or Chef’s Knife and Cutting Board:

Grind whole or chopped nuts into a coarse, crumbly nut flour by pulsing them in a food processor, or chop them finely by hand.

Sheet Pans and Parchment or Silicone Baking Liners:

You could use nonstick cookie sheets if you like them, but I prefer baking my cookies on regular un-coated half-sheet pans. Either butter the pans lightly, coat them with cooking spray, or use liners.

I prefer to line the trays with either parchment paper or nonstick silicone baking mats. It’s much less cleanup, no risk of nonstick coating flaking off or leaching into your cookies, and easy to remove the baked cookies without breaking.

Wire Mesh Sieve or Sifter:

Dusting the finished cookies with powdered sugar, and removing any lumps from the powdered sugar in the dough, is easier with a mesh sieve or flour sifter.

If you are using a stand mixer, unless there are hard lumps in the sugar, you don’t need to sift the sugar in the dough, but it can’t hurt. If you are mixing by hand, sifting the sugar will make it a lot easier to incorporate evenly into the butter.

How to Bake Yule Moon Crescent Cookies

Mix Cookie Dough:

• Cream the butter thoroughly until there are no lumps and it is fluffy, in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a medium mixing bowl and wide wooden spoon or sturdy spatula.
• Beat in the powdered sugar. Sift it first if it is very lumpy, especially if you are mixing by hand. Cream the sugar into the butter until they are smooth and evenly mixed.

• Add the ground walnuts, salt, and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture, whipping them together until well incorporated.
• Add in the flour and mix just until all ingredients are combined into a stiff dough. You can shape the cookies immediately, or cover the dough well and chill it for up to three days.
  
  

Shape and Bake the Crescent Cookies:

• Preheat the oven to 350 ℉, and either grease your cookie sheets, or line them with nonstick silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  
  
• To shape the crescents, pinch off walnut-sized balls of dough and roll them into rough balls.
• Then, squeeze or roll them between your palms to make a cylinder.
• Roll the ends of the cylinders into tapered points, then bend gently into crescent shapes.
• If they crack in the center, press the dough back together firmly.
  
  
   
  
  

• Space them out on the cookie sheets, allowing a little bit of space for them to spread.
• If the dough has warmed significantly while you are shaping it, you can chill the trays before baking them to help them keep their shape. You can always bake a test cookie to be sure.
  
  
   
  
  

• Bake the cookies 14-16 minutes, or just until they are set. They will still be soft until they cool.
• Remove them when they just begin to color around the edges.
• Let them cool on racks, or on the cookie sheets if they aren’t close to over-baking.

Garnish & Store or Serve

• Once the cookies are cooled, dust them with powdered sugar using a wire sieve or sifter.
• Store your crescent cookies in airtight tins at room temperature for up to two weeks, or freeze for several months.