Almond Crescent Cookies

Made with almond flour, they are buttery and nutty!

By
Garrett McCord
Garrett McCord
Garrett McCord
Garrett has been writing about food and sharing recipes for 15 years. He is the author of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese.
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Updated November 16, 2023
Garrett McCord
Side view of a close up of almond crescent cookies.
Cambrea Bakes

When I was a child my parents hated me enough to put me into a table manners class called Ms. Etiquette. I learned to say please and thank you, how to identify nine types of forks, and all of it culminated in a High Tea final exam.

The tea party was boring as heck, but there were these delicious little almond crescent cookies.

Almond crescents are a very basic tea cookie recipe. They're very buttery with a pronounced almond flavor. Matched with a cup of Earl Grey or Almond Rocker they're a great excuse to call over friends on a rainy day for a small tea party of your own.

Overhead view of crescent cookies on parchment paper in a pan.
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Origins of Crescent Cookies

These cookies are traditional Austrian cookies, sometimes called Viennese crescents. They're often given as Christmas gifts. Similar cookies can be found in many culinary traditions. Greek kourabiedes (a.k.a Greek wedding cookies), walnut snowballs, and Mexican wedding cookies are all crumbly, nutty, and rolled in sugar like these almond crescent cookies.

Refrigerating Crescent Cookie Dough

You can refrigerate the crescent cookie dough for up to 24 hours, but bring it to room temperature before forming and baking the cookies.

Can These Crescent Cookies Be Frozen?

These crescent cookies freeze well for up to 1 month. Freeze them in air tight freezer safe zip top bags or in air tight freezer safe containers.

Troubleshooting Crumbly Dough

This dough should be a little crumbly; if it holds together when you press it in your fist, you can use it as it is. If it doesn't, try one or more of these tips.

  • Make sure you start with room temperature butter.
  • Mix the dough a little longer using a stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer.
  • Add milk or almond milk by the tablespoon until the dough comes together as it should.

Great Swaps and Subs from Readers

  • Use vegan butter
  • Add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough
  • Roll in vanilla sugar
  • Drizzle with melted chocolate
  • Substitute 2 tablespoons of the almond flour for roughly chopped almonds
  • Substitute amaretto liqueur for the almond extract

More Perfect Tea Time Recipes

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Almond Crescent Cookies

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Servings 30 servings

You can use slivered, blanched almonds and grind them up in a blender or food processor with a few tablespoons of the flour called for in the recipe, but you will have a very crumbly, hard to work with dough. It’ll still taste good, though.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup almond flour (can substitute ground almonds, see recipe note)

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar for sprinkling

Method

  1. Preheat the oven:

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  2. Beat the butter and sugar and add the extracts:

    Beat the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix.

    Mixing ingredients to make almond crescent cookies.
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  3. Add the flour:

    Add the flour and almond flour. Mix thoroughly.

    Mixing dry ingredients for almond crescent cookies.
    Cambrea Bakes
  4. Form the dough into crescent shapes:

    Take generous tablespoons of the dough (it will be slightly crumbly) and roll it into a small ball, about an inch in diameter, and then shape into a crescent shape. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

    Dough for almond crescent cookies pressed on a person's hand.
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    Rolling almond crescent cookies in a ball in a person's hand.
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    Shaping almond flour sugar cookies over a baking sheet covered in parchment.
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    A baking sheet with almond flour sugar cookies ready to be baked.
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  5. Bake:

    Bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until a light golden brown.

    Baked almond flour sugar cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet.
    Cambrea Bakes
  6. Dust with powdered sugar:

    Dust each cookie with powdered sugar.

    Simple Tip!

    For added decadence let the cookies cool and dip one end of them into some melted chocolate, then let the chocolate harden.

    Did you love the recipe? Leave us some stars and comment below!

    Dusting almond flour sugar cookies with powdered sugar.
    Cambrea Bakes
    Side view of a plate of crescent cookies.
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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
135 Calories
8g Fat
14g Carbs
2g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 30
Amount per serving
Calories 135
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g 10%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Cholesterol 16mg 5%
Sodium 49mg 2%
Total Carbohydrate 14g 5%
Dietary Fiber 1g 3%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 14mg 1%
Iron 1mg 3%
Potassium 41mg 1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.