As long as I can remember Crescent Cookies with Walnuts have always been an unquestionable part of our family’s Christmas. In other words, there is no Christmas without Walnut Crescent Cookies. The original recipe is handed down to generations. These cookies are definitely kid-favorites and the first ones to disappear, so we always make sure to bake enough.
There is really nothing like preparing for Christmas. Counting the 24 days down is the best part of the year. Decorations are starting to emerge from their sleep slowly and gradually so there is always something new to look forward to and be amazed by. These Christmas cookies are the first of many recipes where I adapted a family recipe to be gluten-free and dairy-free.
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What are Walnut Crescent Cookies?
They are crumbly, nutty, powdered sugar-topped little crescent-shaped cookies that we serve as sweet treats after our Christmas Eve dinner and our Christmas Day lunch. What are they not? They are for sure not diet-conscious, super-healthy, and low-calorie cookies. But this is Christmas…. and they are tiny… 🙂
You may have already come across them as they are quite popular in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe. Our Hungarian Crescent Cookies (aka Hókifli) are very similar to other nation’s crescent cookies like:
- Polish Walnut Crescent Cookies (Migdałowe Półksiężyce)
- Austrian or German Vanilla Walnut Crescents (Vanillekipferl)
- Balkan Vanilla Crescent Cookies (Vanilin Kiflice)
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Russia Tea Cakes (Snowballs)
Ingredients of our Walnut Crescent Cookies
My grandma’s family recipe has 6 ingredients: all-purpose flour, butter, powdered sugar, ground walnuts, egg yolk, and vanilla sugar. You can see her original recipe in the recipe card below.
Our gluten-free and dairy-free version has 5 + 1 ingredients:
- ground walnuts or walnut meal
- oat flour
- tapioca starch
- coconut sugar
- vegan butter
- (vanilla powdered sugar for dusting)
These crescent cookies will taste like a nuttier friend of a shortbread cookie. The ground walnuts give them a moister texture so they are crumbly in a melt-in-your-mouth way. And the generous dusting of the vanilla powdered sugar will lift these up to Christmas cookie heights. You’re welcome!
How to make vanilla powdered sugar?
You can buy vanilla sugar online* and add them to your powdered or icing sugar (1 small packet to ½ cup sugar). Or you can place a vanilla bean (empty vanilla bean works as well!!!) in a container of powdered sugar for 1-2 weeks.
- The longer you have them there, the more powerful the vanilla flavor will be.
- The more vanilla bean you add, the more powerful the vanilla flavor will be.
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How to make Walnut Crescent Cookies?
You can make them by hand in 3 minutes, or by a food processor in 2 minutes.
Add all ingredients (ground walnuts, oat flour, tapioca starch, coconut sugar, vegan butter) to a food processor (photo #1) and pulse until they form a ball (photo #2).
Take your rolling mat and lightly flour it. The next step is to tear a small ball of dough and roll it out to form a long tube (photo #3). Then cut the tubes into 6-8 cm long pieces (approx. 3 inches) (photo #4).
As a final step, take the 6-8 long pieces and form them into crescents. Bake on parchment paper in a 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) pre-heated oven for 12 minutes. Dust them with vanilla powdered sugar while they are still hot. Leave them on the parchment paper to cool before transferring to anywhere else to avoid breaking.
Top tips to make perfect Walnut Crescent Cookies
- Flour your surface – I like using rice flour to dust my rolling mat. Rice flour seems to have a non-stick tiny ball-like consistency that just makes working with any dough easier.
- Dust them when they are hot – You need to dust the crescent cookies with powdered sugar while they are hot otherwise the sugar will not stick to them. I usually do that while they are still on the parchment paper as moving them while they are hot is not an easy task.
- Parchment paper instead of a baking sheet – I recommend using parchment paper instead of a baking sheet especially if you are making multiple batches. You can take out the parchment paper from the sheet pan and bake the next round, while the first round can cool down on its own. If you try to move them while they are hot, they will likely break.
- Place them close – As there is no baking powder, baking soda or any other type of leavening, they will not rise significantly. You can place them relatively close to each other.
- When are they ready? – If they start to brown, you are too late. The crescent cookies will almost remain the same in color before and after baking.
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FAQs and Substitutions
How long will the cookies last?
They are quick to disappear in my household, so I would say 2-3 days. But if you make a large batch they can last for several weeks. That is why they are perfect as Edible Christmas Gifts.
Can I substitute walnut?
Yes, you can. We use walnut as they are traditionally the main ingredient. But if you don’t have any, you can use ground pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts for sure. See our Gluten-free Flour Guide for more nut meal options.
Can I substitute tapioca starch?
Yes, you can use arrowroot, corn starch or potato starch for sure. See our Gluten-free Flour Guide for more starch options.
Can I substitute coconut sugar?
You need dry sugar for this recipe to work: powdered sugar, icing sugar, anything that is fine and powder-like. I haven’t tested it with any liquid sweetener.
Walnut Crescent Cookies as Edible Christmas Gifts
These Walnut Crescent Cookies will keep well for several weeks so they are ideal candidates for Edible Christmas Gifts. You can wrap them in cellophane that you tie with a festive ribbon. Or you can stack them in a mason jar or place them in a paper box lined with tissue paper.
This Walnut Crescent Cookies recipe is vegan, so dairy-free and egg-free.
However, it is only gluten-free if you buy certified gluten-free oat flour. Oats are naturally gluten-free, although they are usually cross-contaminated with other grains. If you are interested to read more about oats, you can always visit Coeliac.org.uk or NCA’s Stance on Gluten-free Oats.
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More dessert recipes
You can browse through our Vegan and Gluten-free Dessert Recipes or check out
- Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies
- Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Cake
- Apple Crisp Pie
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
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Walnut Crescent Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Ground walnuts or other nut meal
- 1 cup Oat flour
- ¼ cup Tapioca starch or other starch
- ¼ cup Coconut sugar
- 3 oz Vegan butter
For dusting
- 1 packet Vanilla sugar
- ½ cup Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Add all ingredients (ground walnuts, oat flour, tapioca starch, coconut sugar, vegan butter) to a food processor and pulse until they form a ball. The ball has to be rather dry and not sticky. Add 1 Tbsp of oat flour if you feel it is too sticky.
- Take your rolling mat and lightly flour it. Tear a small ball of dough and roll it out with your hands to form a long tube.
- Cut the tubes into 6-8 cm long pieces (approx. 3 inches).
- Take the 6-8 long pieces and form them into crescents.
- Bake on parchment paper in a 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) pre-heated oven for 12 minutes.
- Dust them with vanilla powdered sugar while they are still hot. Leave them on the parchment paper to cool before transferring to anywhere else to avoid breaking.
Notes
- Flour your surface - I like using rice flour to dust my rolling mat. Rice flour seems to have a non-stick tiny ball-like consistency that just makes working with any dough easier.
- Dust them when they are hot - You need to dust the crescent cookies with powdered sugar while they are hot otherwise the sugar will not stick to them. I usually do that while they are still on the parchment paper as moving them while they are hot is not an easy task.
- Parchment paper instead of a baking sheet - I recommend using parchment paper instead of a baking sheet especially if you are making multiple batches. You can take out the parchment paper from the sheet pan and bake the next round, while the first round can cool down on its own. If you try to move them while they are hot, they will likely break.
- Place them close - As there is no baking powder, baking soda or any other type of leavening, they will not rise significantly. You can place them relatively close to each other.
- When are they ready? - If they start to brown, you are too late. The crescent cookies will almost remain the same in color before and after baking.
- 170 g all-purpose flour
- 140 g butter
- 70 g powdered sugar
- 70 g ground walnuts
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
Jenn
I remember eating these special cookies at the holidays – I love that you’ve made them vegan and healthier!
My Pure Plants
As long as I can remember, there is no Christmas for us without them.
Sophie Goel
I love trying new Christmas cookie recipes! And I can’t wait to try this vegan recipe!
My Pure Plants
Be sure to let us know how you’ll like it.
Jen
I’m always up for adding a new cookie to my cookie tray especially during the holidays. Can’t wait to dig in!
My Pure Plants
We hope you’ll like it as much as we do.
Sapana
These are the perfect cookies! I especially love how easy they are to make and use minimal ingredients.
My Pure Plants
Yes, that is the best part.
Anita
I love these cookies. This is also a popular Christmas cookies in Indonesia, we call them putri salju (snow princess). 🙂
My Pure Plants
Really? I didn’t know. Thanks. I will add it to the list at the beginning of the post.