Crescent Melting Moments
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 22, 2013
Time
1¾ hours, plus 1 hour chilling and 30 minutes cooling
Yield
Makes about 6 dozen cookies
Ingredients
½ cup Rice Krispies cereal 16 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces and softened3 tablespoons heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ¼ cups (5 ounces/142 grams) cake flour ¼ cup (1 ¼ ounces/35 grams) cornstarch ⅛ teaspoon salt ⅔ cup (2 ⅔ ounces/76 grams) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Process Rice Krispies in blender until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Combine 4 tablespoons butter and cream in large bowl and microwave until butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Whisk in processed Rice Krispies and vanilla until combined. Let cool slightly, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl; reserve. Whisk sugar into cooled butter mixture until incorporated. Add remaining 12 tablespoons butter, whisking until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined.
- Transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1-1/2-inch crescents onto prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate dough until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Bake until set but not brown, 18 to 22 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheets, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve. (Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
Time
1¾ hours, plus 1 hour chilling and 30 minutes coolingYield
Makes about 6 dozen cookiesIngredients
½ cup Rice Krispies cereal
16 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces and softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (5 ounces/142 grams) cake flour
¼ cup (1 ¼ ounces/35 grams) cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup (2 ⅔ ounces/76 grams) confectioners' sugar
Ingredients
½ cup Rice Krispies cereal
16 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces and softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (5 ounces/142 grams) cake flour
¼ cup (1 ¼ ounces/35 grams) cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup (2 ⅔ ounces/76 grams) confectioners' sugar
Ingredients
½ cup Rice Krispies cereal
16 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces and softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (5 ounces/142 grams) cake flour
¼ cup (1 ¼ ounces/35 grams) cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup (2 ⅔ ounces/76 grams) confectioners' sugar
Why This Recipe Works
These delicate butter cookies literally melt in your mouth thanks to the generous amount of cornstarch in the dough. Unfortunately, the cornstarch leaves behind a chalky residue with each bite. After settling on the maximum amount of cornstarch we could use without detection, we scoured supermarket shelves in search of other low-protein dry ingredients to replace the remainder. We replaced all-purpose flour with cake flour and chose confectioners’ sugar over granulated, but we still needed more bulk. The solution? Rice Krispies! The ground cereal added the volume we were looking for without toughening the crumb a bit.
Instructions
- Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
- Process Rice Krispies in blender until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Combine 4 tablespoons butter and cream in large bowl and microwave until butter is melted, about 30 seconds. Whisk in processed Rice Krispies and vanilla until combined. Let cool slightly, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl; reserve. Whisk sugar into cooled butter mixture until incorporated. Add remaining 12 tablespoons butter, whisking until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined.
- Transfer dough to pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch star tip. Pipe 1-1/2-inch crescents onto prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate dough until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Bake until set but not brown, 18 to 22 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheets, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Serve. (Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
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