Servings 30-35 cookies
These traditional German cookies are such delightful melt-in-your mouth cookies that are a guaranteed hit for any Christmas gathering. They are a hit amongst children and that is not a surprise when chocolate comes into the picture. Without going too far, I could say that the dough is quite unpretentious and requires no eggs. Once you are done with the mixing of all ingredients, the dough looks rather crumbly giving you the impression that something might have gone wrong. Unlike other cookies, I love the fact that I do not have to roll the dough. You just scoop some dough, roll a log on parchment rather than in your palms so that you keep them as smooth as possible and then shape. They go so well with tea but milk is also a wonderful pairing, especially for kids and why not for Santa!
227 g/ 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
50 g/ ¼ cup granulated sugar
75 g/ ¾ cup icing sugar, divided
1 tsp /5 mL pure almond or vanilla extract
180 g / 1½ cups all-purpose flour
72 g/ ¾ cup almond flour
¼ tsp salt
200 g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, ¼ cup of icing sugar, granulated sugar and almond (or vanilla) extract on medium-high speed, scraping down sides as needed, about 1 minute until well combined.
In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together flours and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing on low speed and scraping down sides, until a dough forms. It may seem easier to use a spatula at this stage as the dough is crumbly and hard to mix.
Scoop a 1 tbsp of dough and roll into a 3-inch/8-cm log. Shape into a crescent, trying to narrow its ends slightly. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 1 inch /2.5 cm apart. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill them in the baking sheets for about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Bake cookies until just golden on the bottom, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. They are rather soft when taken out of the oven but they firm up as they cool.
Melt chocolate over a saucepan of water. Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate. Place cookies on a rack with parchment-lined baking sheet underneath to set completely or simply place them directly on parchment. Using the remaining icing sugar, dust other half of each cookie. Alternatively, you can skip the chocolate dipping process and serve them with a generous amount of icing sugar on top.
You can store them in a cool and dry place in an airtight container or a cookie tin for several weeks.
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