Hazelnut Crescents

This cookie debuted on our family holiday cookie trays this past year and quickly became one of my favorites. Mom sent me her recipe and I’m putting it here for safe keeping. The cookie is labor intensive and not recommended for busy or new chefs. That said the results are both beautiful and delicious. Would be great for a special occassion or dinner party served with a fruit sorbet. (Preparation does not include 1 hour chilling time.)

• Ready In: 58 mins
• Serves: 48

Ingredients

• Cookie

• 1  cup sweet butter, at room temperature (please no substitutions)
• 1  tablespoon water
• 3⁄4 cup  sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1⁄4 cup white sugar
• 1  tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1  egg yolk
• 2 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1  cup  finely ground hazelnuts, measure after processing

• Glaze

• 3  ounces  semisweet chocolate
• 1  teaspoon shortening
• 3  ounces white chocolate
• 1  teaspoon shortening

Directions

1. To prepare hazelnuts, spread nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Place in food processor and grind using the pulse action until you have a coarse powder.
2. In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter, water, sugars, vanilla, salt and nutmeg for 2 minutes.
3. Beat in egg yolk until mixed in; then the hazelnuts.
4. At lowest possible speed, mix in the flour until just blended. Your dough should be stiff but still soft. If it is very soft, add in 1 or 2 additional tablespoons of flour.
5. Divide dough in halves and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. To make the cookies, take about 2 tablespoons of dough and form into a rope about 3 inches long. Turn the ends of the ropes inward to form a crescent (C) shape. Place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
8. Bake for 13-15 minutes until the cookies have a tan color and dry exterior. Remove from oven and cool on baking racks.
9. To glaze the cookies, first melt the two chocolates separately, each with a teaspoon of shortening. Place the chocolate into resealable plastic bags. Clip a tiny corner to create a piping bag and drizzle small stripes of each of the melted chocolates on each cookie. (Place some waxed paper under the baking racks for quick cleanup.) Let the chocolates harden and transfer to an air tight storage container.