Extra-Special Cashew Crescents Recipe

Extra-Special Cashew Crescents RecipePhoto by: Taste of Home Extra-Special Cashew Crescents Recipe Rating 3

“These nutty shortbread crescents are simply scrumptious. Everyone will love them, whether glazed or dusted with powdered sugar. Cashews add that extra special taste.” —Paula Marchesi, Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania

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Extra-Special Cashew Crescents Recipe
  • Prep: 15 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min./batch + cooling
  • Yield: 72 Servings
15 10 25

Ingredients

  • 1-2/3 cups lightly salted cashews
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
  • 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 3 tablespoons 2% milk
  • Chopped lightly salted cashews and additional confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

  • Place cashews in a food processor; cover and process until finely chopped.
  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine the flour, salt and chopped cashews; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
  • Divide dough in half; shape each into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Using a floured scalloped round 3-in. cookie cutter, cut a semicircle from one corner of the dough, forming the inside of a crescent shape. Reposition cutter 1-1/4 in. from inside of crescent; cut cookie, forming a crescent 1-1/4 in. wide at its widest point. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill and reroll scraps if desired.
  • Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 6-7 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
  • Combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and remaining vanilla; spread or drizzle over cookies as desired. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired. Leave some cookies plain or sprinkle them with additional confectioners' sugar if desired. Let iced cookies stand until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 6 dozen.

Nutritional Facts 1 cookie (calculated without optional cashews) equals 79 calories, 4 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 7 mg cholesterol, 34 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch.

Originally published as Extra-Special Cashew Crescents in Taste of Home October/November 2010, p73

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Reviews for Extra-Special Cashew Crescents (13)

Extra-Special Cashew Crescents Recipe

Extra-Special Cashew Crescents

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Reviewed on Dec. 16, 2011 by jules2284

Made these Christmas 2010 - HUGE HIT! Made them as pictured, with a scalloped biscuit cutter, and iced/decorated in the same varieties. Only downside is that its tedious (sp?), and it makes a buttload of cookies. They came out perfect though, and i'd say they are an easy cookie to bake. Will be making them again this year. Wouldnt change a thing.


Reviewed on Feb. 24, 2011 by kathybunny

I give it five stars because I just spent an hour going through all of my cookbooks trying to remember where I had gotten the recipe the first time - My family loved them!


Reviewed on Dec. 18, 2010 by shirnkerbelle

Tried the recipe again; measured exactly, chopped the cashews instead of using the food processor. First of all, the cookies do have a great flavor, unlike any other Christmas cookie I made this year. However, the recipe is still little touchy. The first rolling/cutting baked like the greasy lace ones I mentioned previously. On the next rolling, and those after, I added a good bit of flour while rolling. These cookies more closely resembled the picture. My verdict: the recipe needs more flour.


Reviewed on Dec. 16, 2010 by KScales

For those who have had trouble with this recipe, we're wondering if they're grinding the cashews too finely and releasing too much oil, which will affect the texture of the dough. We will modify the directions to finely chop the cashews instead. This change will be updated soon.

Taste of Home Test Kitchen


Reviewed on Dec. 13, 2010 by SMQMC

This recipe is SO buttery and delightful! I can't even imagine why some people say they are greasy or fall apart. Mine look just like the picture except I didn't put frosting or powdered sugar on them. I like them just the way they are, with cashew pieces broken on the top. I ground up cashews for the dough, not like powder, but just a step above that, more finely ground. I most definitely will make them again next year!!


Reviewed on Dec. 12, 2010 by LornaJacobs

Don't understand the problems--mine came out perfect!! The cookie cutter specified did not yield the correct amount of cookies, they were too large, but the 2 1/2" one did. I have spacing rubber bands that go on my rolling pin so they are all uniformly 1/4"--I think the failures were too thin? They are addicting--made wonderful cookies for a holiday cookie exchange & were loved by all. Used real butter, regular cashews--(did you grind them to a powder like flour? ) Dough or sheets were too warm--line sheets with parchment paper also--makes them easy to cool completely before moving off the sheets. They are delicate if handled too roughly, but flakey to eat.


Reviewed on Dec. 11, 2010 by shirnkerbelle

I too am a professional baker. The cookies were made exactly as directed, and every batch made thin, greasy lace cookies. It was a fairly expensive failure and I am not sure I want to try it again. Were the cashews used in the test recipe dry roasted? That might account for all of the extra oil.


Reviewed on Dec. 05, 2010 by Englishfox

I am a professional baker & these cookies gave me problems. Mine also did not hold shape & looked like lace cookies. I am going to add a egg to see if the dough will hold shape after cooking. I will let you know what happens.


Reviewed on Nov. 23, 2010 by ErikB

We apologize for any problems with this recipe. Due to some of the comments here, the Test Kitchen has reviewed this recipe again and retested it. However, they could not replicate the same issues and the recipe is correct as published.

Here are some suggestions that may help you have better luck. Make sure to use real butter and only soften it – don’t melt it. Only remove one half of the dough from the refrigerator at a time. Allow baking sheets to cool down before adding the next batch of cookies to them.


Reviewed on Nov. 10, 2010 by anna1228

I too had cookies that fell apart. I'm not sure what I did wrong because I used the correct proportions (though I did scale the recipe down) and had a very nice, wonderful smelling dough. But when the cookies came out of the oven they were puddles. I might try making them again with a little extra flour on the cutting board.

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