JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO

With the forecast of much colder weather ahead, I went into “nesting” mode today.  Not only did the apartment get cleaned from top to bottom, but I winterized the balcony as well – which entailed pulling out the dying plants, dumping dirt out of pots into bags, and hauling the bags to the dumpsters in the back of our building.  But the icing on my day’s work was…

whipping up a batch of Almond Crescents, which just happen to be my favorite Christmas cookie!  Yes, I know it’s early for Christmas cookies, but since I’ll be practically living in the orchestra pit at the David Koch Theater starting next week (there are 48 Nutcracker shows this season), I’m needing to think ahead a bit.  The beauty of fresh baked cookies is that you can always freeze them…that is, as long as your husband doesn’t eat them all first.

Here’s “my” (passed down from my mom via my Grandmother!) recipe for Almond Crescents:

Ingredients

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup ground blanched almonds

2 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour

Cream the sugar with the butter.  Add the vanilla, then mix in the ground almonds.  Add in the flour and mix just until the dough comes together.  Form the dough into small crescents and place on a greased (or use a Silpat mat) cookie sheet.  Chill the cookies for at least a 1/2 hour while you pre-heat the oven to 350°.  Bake cookies for 15 minutes (you may need more time if you are baking on the Silpat mat) until slightly golden.  Let the cookies cool, then dip tops into icing (confectioner’s sugar combined with a few drops of milk), followed by a dip into a bowl of sprinkles or sparkly sugar.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place, or freeze.