These walnut crescent cookies are very delicate and tasty. The texture is light and fluffy and the flavor has a lovely hint of vanilla and cinnamon.
Bring some to your holiday cookie swap and wait for rave reviews.
The holidays are just around the corner and that always gets me thinking of making cookies. I always try to come up with new cookie recipes this time of the year to try out on my family and friends.
Also, my husband and I have been watching our weight and have given up heavy desserts but still get a yen for something sweet. Cookies are the perfect choice since they are not too calorie-laden.
My latest cookie is a walnut cinnamon cookie that is shaped like a French croissant. The crescent shape holds the cinnamon sugar in all the little crevices and bakes up crisp and flaky.
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Let’s make some walnut crescent cookies!
This walnut crescent cookie recipe is made in two steps. First, the cookie dough batter is prepared and then it has to chill for at least 4 hours. This is important for a flaky cookie when baked.
I make my dough the night before since it is quick and easy to prepare. Then the dough is well chilled the next morning when I finish making the cookies.
Making the crescent nut cookie dough
Gather your ingredients first. (I always do this before I start making cookies. It’s so easy to run out of something that you need for a recipe and it’s better to know early rather than in the middle of the preparation!)
You’ll need these ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- sea salt
- cold butter
- an egg
- nonfat plain Greek yogurt (you can also use sour cream)
- pure vanilla extract
- walnuts
- granulated sugar
- ground cinnamon
Be sure that you start with very cold better. This gives the cookies the best dough consistency. Add the sea salt and flour to a food processor and then add the cold butter, and cut into cubes.
Give the mixture a few good pulses until the batter resembles coarse crumbs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk (reserve the white for later), the Greek yogurt, and the pure vanilla extract.
Add this to the crumb mixture and mix well. Cover the food processor and refrigerate the dough for at least four hours.
Preparing the cinnamon walnut cookies
Take the chilled dough out and divide it into thirds. Roll out each portion of dough into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface.
Combine the chopped walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then sprinkle 1/4 of the nut mixture over each circle.(reserve 1/4 for topping the cookies.)
Once you have done this, cut each circle into 12 triangles and roll up each triangle from the wide end. Then place the pointed side down and place on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Curve the ends of the rolled triangles to resemble crescents.
Whisk the reserved egg white until it is frothy and brush it over the crescents. Sprinkle with the rest of the nut mixture. You will get three trays of cookies to bake.
Bake for 18-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 ºF until lightly browned, then remove to wire racks to cool.
I love the shape that the cookies take on when baked. They have a French café nostalgic feel to both the look and the taste.
These yummy walnut crescent cookies will be the perfect addition to my Thanksgiving dessert table.
Time to taste these walnut vanilla crescent roll cookies
These cookies are light and flaky with a tart and sweet flavor with just a hint of vanilla and cinnamon.
They are just the right size for a small afternoon snack and my husband loves them with a bit of vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Each bite reminds you of the holidays. They will be sure to become a family tradition. After all, who doesn’t love making holiday cookies with children?
These yummy cookies are perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday too!
I think I’ll make some for homemade Christmas gifts and I know they will be popular at my upcoming Christmas cookie exchanges.
Nutritional information for these walnut crescents
These crescent nut cookies are fairly light in calories but still pack a sweet flavor punch. Each cookie has just 101 calories and is quite low in both sugar and saturated fat. The cookies work out to 4 WW freestyle points each.
Keeping the cookies low in calories
it’s nice to know that you can still fit a cookie (or two) into your day and still keep to a healthy eating regimen.
There are lots of ways to save calories and fat when baking. I made these cookies using half sugar and half Splenda instead of all sugar for another batch, and they tasted great. (this makes the sugar count much lower.)
I used plain nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for the tartness ingredient which helps to keep the total fat count much lower.
You can also cut the nuts down to just 1/2 cup instead of 2/3 cup to save more calories.
Pin these cinnamon walnut crescent cookies
Would you like a reminder of this nut crescent cookie recipe? Just pin this photo to one of your holiday cooking boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Admin note: This post first appeared on the blog in October of 2013. I have updated the post with all new photos, a printable recipe card, and a video for you to enjoy.
Walnut Vanilla Crescent Roll Cookies
These rolled dough cookies are sweetened with cinnamon and sugar and have the crunch from walnuts.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup cold butter, cubed
- 1 egg, separated
- ⅔ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the flour and salt; add in the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla extract; add this to crumb mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Divide the dough into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 10-in. circle. Combine the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle ¼ cup of the mixture over each circle. (reserve 1/4 of the mixture for later.)
- Cut each circle into 12 wedges.
- Roll up each wedge from the wide end and place point side down 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve ends to form the shapes into crescents.
- Whisk the egg white until foamy; brush over crescents. Sprinkle with the remaining nut mixture.
- Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks and cool. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
You can make the dough the day before and chill it over night.
Be sure to make quite a curve in the crescent shape before baking so that the cookie keeps the croissant shape after they cool.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Amount Per Serving: Calories: 101Total Fat: 6.7gSaturated Fat: 3.4gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 12mgCarbohydrates: 9.1gFiber: 0.4gSugar: 3.9gProtein: 1.7g