Apricot Walnut Crescents
Submitted by bearman55
Apricot walnut crescent cookies with a flaky sour cream pastry rolled around apricot preserves and ground walnuts, dusted with powdered sugar. An Eastern European holiday classic.
YIELD
36 crescentsPREP
30 minCOOK
20 minREADY
9 hrsThese crescents start with a sour cream pastry dough that’s closer to a laminated pastry than a cookie. Butter cut into flour with sour cream and egg creates a tender, flaky dough that practically shatters when you bite through to the apricot and walnut filling inside.
The overnight chill is what makes the dough workable. Fresh off the mixing, it’s too soft and sticky to roll. After 4 hours (or overnight) in the fridge, the butter firms up and the dough rolls out smoothly without tearing.
Each circle gets spread with a thin layer of apricot preserves and ground walnuts, then cut into 12 wedges and rolled from the wide end into crescent shapes. The preserves melt during baking and create a sticky, fruity center, while the walnuts add a toasted crunch.
A dusting of powdered sugar after cooling gives them a bakery-polished finish.
Kitchen Tips
- Cut the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs, not fine sand. Larger butter pieces create the flaky layers.
- Roll the dough on a floured pastry cloth, not directly on the counter. The cloth prevents sticking without adding too much extra flour.
- Spread the preserves thinly. Too much filling oozes out during baking and burns on the pan.
- Roll tightly from the wide end for crescents that hold their shape. Loose rolls unravel in the oven.
Variations
- Raspberry walnut: Swap apricot preserves for seedless raspberry jam for a tarter, more colorful filling.
- Poppy seed crescents: Replace the walnut-apricot filling with sweetened poppy seed paste for a traditional Eastern European version.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix flour, salt, and sugar.
With a pastry blender, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in sour cream and egg.
Knead lightly until mixture holds together.
Wrap well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Divide dough into thirds.
On a lightly floured pastry cloth, roll each third into a circle 11 inches in diameter.
Spread each circle evenly with 2 tablespoons of apricot preseves and 2 tablespoons ground walnuts.
Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges.
Roll up each wedge, starting at the wide end.
Place seam-side down about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375℉ (190℃) for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Place on wire rack.
Dust with confectioners’ sugar when completely cool.
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