These elegant crescent cookies are dairy-free (unless, you know, you decide to use dairy butter instead of the vegan butter substitute the recipe calls for). They’re also incredibly fast and easy to make. They’re the perfect solution when you want a batch of cookies fresh from the oven, but you don’t have a lot of time.
That was me when I was taking care of my daughter after her surgery in August. The surgery was out of state, so we stayed in a hotel suite while she recovered. I was working from home (or, rather, from hotel) while I was caring for her, so I didn’t have a lot of free time. And the kitchen in the suite wasn’t set up particularly well for cooking. I mean, it had an oven and a refrigerator, and the bare minimum of pots and pans.
But it honestly was not set up for cooking from scratch. No mixer. No mixing bowls. No whisk. No rubber scrapers.
So I started looking for ways to cheat. And store-bought pie crusts were the answer. These cookies are surprisingly yummy. And they’re so fast and easy to make that you can make them any time, even when you have no time!
Elegant crescent cookies recipe
This recipe makes 16 cookies.
Cookie ingredients
2 refrigerated pie crusts
Nondairy butter substitute (my favorite by far is Miyoko’s vegan butter, but you can use coconut oil or other nondairy spread that’s suitable for baking)
Brown sugar
Spices: Try apple pie spice and powdered vanilla. Or cinnamon and nutmeg. Or just plain cinnamon. Whatever you like best.
Glaze ingredients
The glaze is totally optional. The cookies don’t really need it. They are wonderful just as they are when they come out of the oven. And making the glaze adds a bit of time to a recipe that is supposed to be fast.
But if you want to make the cookies sweeter, or dress them up a bit, then go ahead and make the glaze.
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 – 2 tablespoons nondairy milk
Instructions
Let the pie crusts warm on the counter for 10 minutes or so, then unroll them.
Spread each crust generously with nondairy spread. Add a generous layer of brown sugar. Sprinkle with more spices than you think you really need. For some things, less is more. For these cookies, more is more.
Cut each crust into 8 triangles.
Roll each triangle from the edge of the circle to the point. Place on a baking sheet and curve them slightly.
Bake at 400F until lightly browned.
Transfer them to a rack to cool.
When the crescent cookies are cool, if they haven’t all been eaten already, you can glaze them.
In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, 1 tablespoon of the nondairy milk, and corn syrup together. Because it’s a glaze, not a frosting, you don’t want it to be too thick. Dribble in the second tablespoon of milk a little bit at a time until you get the right consistency.
Spoon or drizzle the glaze over the cookies. Let them sit on a rack until the glaze dries.
Enjoy!
Read More
Alex’s Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe: This is my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. And it would be my favorite even if they weren’t gluten-free and dairy-free. But they are. And they are also delicious.
Recipes for Pascha and St. Nicholas Day: If you’re looking for cookie recipes, you’ll find many of my favorites here.
The Baker’s Dozen: A Review: In this retelling of an American folk tale, a baker who is scrupulously honest, but stingy, learns a better way to count.
Buy the Books!
These delightfully diverse books provide disability representation (Elizabeth, one of the main characters, is an ambulatory wheelchair user). They also give Orthodox Christian children the rare opportunity to see themselves in books, and children who are not Orthodox the chance to see cultural practices they may not be familiar with.
Catherine’s Pascha
FINALIST IN THE 2015 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS
Catherine doesn’t like vegetables. She doesn’t like naps. She doesn’t like it when her mom combs her hair. She loves hot dogs, chocolate cake, and her best friend, Elizabeth. Most of all, she loves Pascha! Pascha, the Orthodox Christian Easter, is celebrated in the middle of the night, with processions and candles and bells and singing. And Catherine insists that she’s not a bit sleepy.
Celebrate the joy of Pascha through the magic of a book: Catherine’s Pascha. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, and my webstore.
The Saint Nicholas Day Snow
Shoes or stockings? Horse or sleigh? Does St. Nicholas visit on December 6 or on Christmas Eve? Will a little girl’s prayer be answered? When Elizabeth has to stay at Catherine’s house, she’s worried about her grandmother, and worried that St. Nicholas won’t find her. The grownups, though, are worried about snow.
Celebrate the wonder of St. Nicholas Day through the magic of a book: The Saint Nicholas Day Snow. Available on Amazon, Bookshop.org, or my webstore.
