Favorite Yeast Vienna Crescents

These crescent cookies come from the rich pastry tradition of Vienna and Budapest, where laminated yeast doughs are the foundation of countless tea-time treats. The yeast here doesn’t make these rise like bread. Instead it adds a subtle complexity and that distinctive shatter-flake bite you get in a proper kifli or rugelach.

The dough is essentially a sour cream pastry: cold butter cut into yeast-flecked flour, then bound with egg yolks and sour cream. The chill time isn’t optional. Warm dough won’t roll thin enough and the butter will leak out as the cookies bake.

The meringue filling sets these apart from a typical crescent cookie. Beaten egg whites lifted with sugar and folded with ground pecans and lemon zest puffs slightly under the heat, giving each cookie a tender almost macaron-like center against the buttery flake.

Rolling on powdered sugar instead of flour is a Hungarian trick. The sugar dissolves into the dough’s surface and gives each finished cookie a sweet glossy top without drying it out the way extra flour would.

Pro Tips

• Grind the pecans in a food processor with 1 tablespoon of the sugar to keep them from turning to nut butter.
• Cut wedges with a pizza wheel or sharp knife. A clean cut means cleaner rolling.
• Roll wide-end first, tucking the filling in tightly, then bend into a crescent on the cookie sheet.
• Watch the bake carefully. These go from pale to too dark in just a minute or two.

Variations

• Substitute walnuts or almonds for the pecans.
• Add 1 tablespoon apricot jam to the filling for a fruit-pecan version.
• Dust the cooled cookies with powdered sugar for a snowy holiday finish.