Fuzz has been doing a lot of baking, and yesterday she made a batch of these Pecan Crescents. She mixed things up a bit, though. Instead of using pecans, she used ground roasted hazelnuts and a dash of hazelnut extract. Unfortunately, I only got a tiny taste of her cookies before she packed them up and took them to a party. Craving more, I made another batch using Fuzz’s recipe, but sticking with the traditional pecans.
The recipe for these cookies calls for confectioners’ sugar in the dough and on the outside, so the texture is light and crumbly. I didn’t use fancy pecans, but rather already chopped Betty Crocker brand pecans from Walgreen’s. They were good right out of the bag, but to up the flavor a bit I toasted them for about 5 minutes at 350 and tossed them with a tiny bit of butter. Another little trick to make the cookies better is to use European style butter. Any butter works, but with so few ingredients the European butter’s flavor stands out. It might also help the texture, because these were just about perfect!
Easy Pecan Crescents
- 1 stick (4 oz) salted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (increase to 1/4 if using unsalted butter)
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line one or two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat together softened butter, confectioners' sugar and salt. Stir in the vanilla, then add the flour and stir until mixed. Stir in the pecans.
- Using a teaspoon measure, shape bits of dough into small crescents and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Put some confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl and roll the warm cookies in the sugar. Let them cool completely, then dust with more sugar.
One of my favorite holiday cookies.
Mmmmmmmm, this kind of cookie is SO good! Sounds like your daughter has your baking talents!!!
OMG. My holiday favorite!! I’m with you in that those small touches make a big difference with humble cookies like these. It can elevate them to exquisite!
I totally agree with you Anna! Toasted pecans and European butter adds tons of flavor to these simple cookies. Love the crumbly texture