I know it looks like I’ve vanished, but something had to give. On top of the predictably unpredictable December insanity at work (a December IPO? The audacity!), I managed to plan a holiday party which, of course, I unwittingly scheduled at the end of one of my worst weeks on record. I honestly wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off, but with a detailed minute-by-minute spreadsheet (thanks, PR world, for the rollout training), a trusty co-hostess, label writer and furniture arranger extraordinaire, and a heavy dose of willpower (and undereye concealer), I did it – and I’ve got all the recipes to show for it.
Having pretty much dropped the ball on baking Christmas cookies for the past 2 years or so, I was having some major nostalgia for the beautifully packaged bags of treats my sister and I used to make with my mom every year for our teachers as kids. So for the party, I picked three classics, two of which were versions of cookies we’d make year after year in that lineup: chewy molasses cookies, Linzer cut-outs with jam and these oh-so-simple but just right in every way almond crescent cookies.
In party planning, I tend to overdo it every single time and generally live by the motto that it’s not a party until I’m actually crying (beforehand, that is). This year I’m happy to report that no tears were shed during the making of this party, and part of the reason is that I chose things I could make ahead. The molasses and Linzer dough were made a week in advance, frozen and then baked off the morning of. Even better, these almond cookies can be made AND baked a MONTH in advance, which is a true life saver during the holiday season when your home seems to turn into an actual factory of baked goods.
So I’d like my gift to you all this year to be the gift of simplicity. To make these old standbys, you’ll need to go to the store to get blanched almonds, unless you’re like me and store 14 kinds of nuts in your freezer. And that’s honestly it. Grind them up with sugar in your food processor (which hopefully isn’t on its way back to Cuisinart right now in the latest recall), add butter (doesn’t even need to be room temperature!). After chilling, form them into crescents, bake and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. You are done and have five dozen cookies to give away to everyone you love and also probably start eating for dinner.
And with that, I wish you the happiest of holidays to you and yours.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup blanched, sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 ⅔ cups bleached all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a food processor, process the almonds and sugar until the almonds are ground very finely. Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour and sprinkle the salt on top. Pulse it just until the flour is incorporated.
- Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a thick disk and wrap it tightly.
- Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 2 hours.
- For the topping, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until uniform in color.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Divide the dough into 8 portions. Work with 1 section at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough refrigerated. Knead the dough between floured hands until malleable. Pinch off a portion of the dough and roll it into a 1-inch-round ball.
- On a lightly floured counter, roll each ball into a cylinder with tapered ends, about 3 inches long by 1/2 inch thick. Form each cylinder into a crescent shape and place on an ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. The cookies will require two cookie sheets, one for the middle rack in the oven and one for the lower one.
- Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until set but not brown. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking period.
- Cool the cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes. While they are still warm, use a small angled metal spatula or pancake turner to lift them from the sheets and dip them, one at a time, in the cinnamon sugar, turning gently to coat all over. Finish cooling the cookies on wire racks.
- To store, place the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month or freeze for as many as several months.
Notes
From The New York Times
