Have you ever tried the Snowball cookies from Ann’s bakery in Kerala? Yes, I’m referring to the-ohh-so-heavenly-melt-in-mouth-soft-and-sweet Snowball cookies. Just typing this out makes me drool, hmm…. Well, if you haven’t tried it yet, please do so if you get a chance. If you don’t see that happening, don’t worry. Try out this moon/crescent cookie. It will definitely give you an idea about what it tastes like. I’d say this cookie and Snowball cookies are like twins, but not identical twins. More like a boy & girl twin. They share so many things but they are different, got the picture? The obvious difference is… this is crescent shaped & Snowball is round shaped. Apart from the looks, the major difference is that Snowball is more sweeter & softer. I guess the secret ingredient for the soft texture is cornflour. May be I will add it next time and see whether it works. Hey, that doesn’t mean our crescent cookie is a rough n tough person, she is indeed a soft and delicate cookie :)
I’ve been baking this for a long time, say for more than 4 years. But I didn’t feature it here because all this while I couldn’t take a picture. Finally I did and here it is. I usually bake it as a gift for friends and they always come back to me asking for the recipe. So if you are looking to bake something special for your loved ones, go ahead. It’s eggless too! Do I need to say, it’s “simple”? Because by now, you should be knowing that I’m not a complicated person, right!
Here is the recipe…
- ½ cup walnut halves (refer notes)
- ¾ cup blanched almonds (refer notes)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- teaspoon salt
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup/170 gms) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½ cups confectioners’/icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used Vanilla essence)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180 C for 10 mins before baking. Spread walnuts & almonds in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast until light golden and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate, and let cool completely. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, combine ½ cup flour with the toasted nuts, and pulse until the nuts are finely ground. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour-nut mixture and the remaining 1 cup flour and the salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and ½ cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches, and beat until combined.
- Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a 3-inch log. Using your fingers, shape log into a crescent, tapering the ends slightly so that the center is the widest part. Repeat with remaining dough, placing crescents about 1 inch apart on prepared sheets. Freeze or refrigerate until crescents are very firm, about 30 minutes. Bake in the preheated oven, rotating sheets halfway through, until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool, 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to the rack to cool completely. Place the remaining 1 cup sugar in a shallow bowl and roll cookies in it to coat completely. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
