Swedish Crescent Cookies
These Swedish cookies are a unique Christmas cookie recipe that your family will love! They feature buttery crescent cookies studded with chopped almonds.
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Swedish Christmas Cookies
I love sharing new books with my readers and helping the authors spread the word about their fabulous work. The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel is such a book. The authors of The Recipe Club effortlessly weave recipes throughout the story of two girls, Lilly and Valerie.
Despite being two very different personalities, Lilly and Valerie are sworn childhood friends. The story begins with the main characters attempting to reunite after years of silence. At first all is well, but soon past misunderstandings and betrayals begin to falter Lilly and Valerie’s attempt at renewed friendship.
The novel then takes a turn to the past where the bulk of the story is told through letters exchanged between the two main characters from their childhood through young adult years. Lilly and Valerie have formed their own exclusive “Recipe Club.” With each letter one friend sends the other an accompanying recipe.
The recipes themselves, like this one for Swedish Crescent Cookies, are beautifully formatted on their own pages and indexed in the back.
As the girls grow into women, they continue exchanging letters and recipes with one another. Ultimately, Lilly and Valerie feel betrayed by one another and decide to move on with life, friendship aside, but neither has truly forgotten what they once shared.
Years later, Lilly and Valerie are engrossed in a last ditch effort to recover their once beloved relationship when a terrible secret is revealed that threatens to destroy their happy memories of each other for good. The Recipe Club will surely evoke memories of the often complex woman to woman relationships in your own life.
Silliness. Fall outs. Reunions. Brutal honesty. Beauty. Joy. Jealousy. Unconditional love. Apologies. Unspoken feelings.
At times, I found myself forgetting that this was a novel and not a memoir of two real life friends. It was amazing to see how this friendship grew and changed through the seasons of life, how the characters ultimately find out who they truly are as individuals, and in the end find their way back to one another.
You’ll have to read the book to find out if they’ve found their way back for good, or only temporarily.
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Swedish Cookies Ingredients
These Swedish crescent cookies are essentially Christmas butter cookies with some added pizazz. Here’s what you’ll need to make these Swedish cookies:
- Unsalted butter
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Almond extract
- Egg yolk
- All-purpose flour
- Chopped almonds
- Lemon zest
Tip: I wrote a useful post on How to Separate Eggs, which comes in handy when making these Swedish Christmas cookies!
How to Make Swedish Cookies
These unique Christmas cookies are so easy to make. You simply cream together the butter and sugar, then stir in the remaining ingredients.
Form the dough into a ball and chill for 2 hours in the fridge. Then, remove pieces of cookie dough one at a time and shape them into crescents.
Bake until the Swedish crescent cookies are golden. While they’re still warm, dust them with powdered sugar.
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Can I Use Different Nuts?
Yes, I made my Swedish cookies with almonds, but you’re welcome to use another chopped nut if desired. Pecans and walnuts would both work well in this Christmas butter cookie recipe, I think.
I have made a similar version with pistachio nuts. Check out the recipe: Pistachio Orange Crescent Cookies.
Can I Make These Gluten-Free?
I’ve only made this Swedish cookie recipe as written, so I’m not sure if you can use a gluten-free flour blend here. If you try this recipe using an All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend, please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out!
Tips for Making Swedish Cookies
Feel free to add some citrus zest (lemon, lime, or orange) for a little extra flavor. A little goes a long way, so be careful!
Also note that you should not add more almond extract than the recipe calls for. It’s incredibly powerful and can quickly overwhelm these unique Christmas cookies.
Lastly, using a food processor to finely chop the nuts makes these cookies a breeze!
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More Christmas Desserts:
If you’re looking for additional inspiration for your Christmas treats this year, here are a few other favorite Christmas recipes to go along with this recipe for Swedish Crescent Cookies. Be sure to check out the Christmas Recipes Archive and the Dessert Recipe Archives if you need help building the rest of your holiday treat plans.
Bittersweet Chocolate Swirl Fruit and Nut Bark pairs bittersweet chocolate, white chocolate, almonds, raspberries, strawberries, pumpkin and chia seeds for a delectable holiday treat.
Cranberry Pomegranate Walnut Bars are the perfect wintery recipe to add to your Christmas Baking list. A crumb crust is layered with sweet and tart cranberries and topped with a crunchy and crumbly walnut topping.
Cinnamon Vanilla Glazed Walnuts or Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Bar Nuts make great gifts or an addition to any exchange party for something sweet and savory as well as a great snack to have out for all your holiday parties.
This recipe for Chocolate Gingerbread Cake takes the classic flavors of Gingerbread and pairs them with dark cocoa.
Candy Cane Crunch Funfetti Sugar Cookie Bars are super festive with red and green funfetti and crunch up candy cane sprinkled on top.
If you like cherry and chocolate, you should try these Chocolate Cherry Cordial Thumbprint Cookies. Such a pleasant surprise when you bit into them!
For a fun, unique twist on gingerbread cut out cookies, try these Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies!
What’s your favorite Christmas cookie recipe?
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Swedish Crescent Cookies
These Swedish Crescent Cookies are perfect for the Holidays and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus additional for coating
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
- zest of one lemon
Instructions
- In a bowl, beat the butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the almond extract, yolk.
- Beat till combined.
- Slowly stir in the in the flour, nuts, and zest.
- For the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc shape.
- Cover and chill for 2 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove a heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, shaping into crescent shapes.
- Arrange about 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake until cookies are lightly golden around the edges, about 15-20 minutes.
- While still warm, coat the cookies with confectioners sugar.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Makes 3 dozen.
Notes
adapted from The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel
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