2/3 cup blanched almonds

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter

1 2/3 cups bleached all-purpose flour (dip and sweep method)

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the topping

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Place 2 oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

For the topping, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until uniform in color. Set aside.

Soften the butter. Grind the almonds very finely. In a large mixing bowl, combine the almonds, butter and sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour and salt, and beat them into the mixture, on low speed, until incorporated.

Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a thick disc, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate about 2 hours or until the dough is firm. Divide the dough into 8 portions. Work with 1 section at a time, keeping the remainder of the dough refrigerated. Knead the dough between floured hands until malleable. Pinch off a portion of the dough and roll it into a 3/4 inch round ball. On a lightly floured counter, roll each ball into a cylinder with tapered ends, about 3 inches long by 1/2 inch thick. Form each cylinder into a crescent shape and place on the cookie sheet 1 inch apart.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until set but not brown. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking period.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 10 minutes. While they are still warm, use a spatula to lift them from the sheets and dip them, 1 at a time, in the cinnamon sugar, turning gently to coat all over. Cool on wire racks.

Makes 5 dozen 2-inch by 1-inch crescents.

Tester’s notes: This recipe worked like a dream, and one hour in the fridge was enough chilling, I found. It made a light, delicate cookie.

From: Rose’s Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum.