Best Finnish Crescents Recipes

THREE-CHEESE CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Make the Basic Dinner-Roll Dough, using the Parmesan as the mix-in. Let rise as directed.
• Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Roll or stretch each half into a 12-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. Brush each round with some of the beaten egg and sprinkle with the Havarti and Cheddar, leaving a 1-inch border. Lightly press on the cheese to ensure it sticks.
• Cut each round into 12 wedges with a pizza cutter or chef's knife. Starting from the wide ends, roll up each wedge. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheets, bending the ends slightly to create a crescent. Loosely cover with plastic wrap; let stand until puffy, about 45 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees F. Combine the sesame seeds, poppy seeds and salt in a small bowl. Brush the crescents with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with the seed mixture. Bake, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the rolls are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Warm the milk and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan or in the microwave until very warm (110 degrees F). Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix in the sugar, yeast and 1 cup flour until combined but still lumpy. Let stand until the mixture is very bubbly, about 30 minutes.
• Add the butter, salt and 2 cups flour; mix on medium speed until smooth and elastic, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs until combined, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl as needed. Add 1 1/4 cups flour and the mix-ins, if using; mix until the dough is smooth and starts to gather into a loose ball, about 4 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky; if it's too wet, add the remaining 1/4 cup flour.
• Lightly oil a large bowl; scrape the dough into the bowl and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

LATTYJA (FINNISH CREPES/PANCAKES)

Steps:

• Use a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients.
• Beat eggs, sugar and salt together.
• Add flour, milk (1% or 2% can also be used) and melted butter.
• Beat with whisk or hand mixer until not lumpy.
• Adjust the mixture by adding additional milk to thin it. Thinner mixture works better.
• You can make the mixture ahead of time and refrigerate; however you will need to add additional milk to thin it for frying.
• Heat a non-stick pan at medium-low, add butter to coat the surface; use only enough to coat the pan. (We use a cast-iron mini-round indented pan for ours that acutally came from Sweden - thanks for reminding me to add this!).
• While lifting the pan by the handle with one hand, pour some of the mixture onto the frying pan.
• Tilt the pan so that the mix coats the surface of the frying pan; return to heat.
• Cook until the crepe starts to brown; cook the other side until brown circles start to form.
• Move the crepe around the pan to keep the pan greased and remove the crepe.
• You can put sugar, jams or preserves onto the crepe and roll up to eat, or just dip and eat off of the plate. Serve with strawberry jam and whipped cream for the traditional Finnish dish.
• They don't stay hot for long, so eat up while you can or there won't be any left for you!

VANILLA CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extracts. In another bowl, whisk flour, almonds and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough into four portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 24-in. rope. Cut crosswise into twelve 2-in. logs; shape each into a crescent. Place 1-1/2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool on pans 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Dust warm cookies with confectioners' sugar.

VANILLA CRESCENTS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, hazelnut flour and salt. Beat the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds using the back of a thin knife and add to the butter with the egg yolk. Beat until combined. Gradually mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
• Roll the batter into a 12-inch log, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut the log into 18 pieces and roll each piece into a crescent shape. Put the crescents on the lined baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake until the cookies are set and the bottoms and edges are browned, about 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar while warm, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cream sugar and butter. Add flour, vanilla and nut meats. Roll a small piece between your hands and form into small crescents. (2 1/2 inches) Bake 20 to 25 minutes. When cool, roll in powdered sugar. These are better the second day.

VIENNESE CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Cream the butter and add the sugar and vanilla and beat to fluffy. Add the flour and nuts and mix in. Chill the dough for at least one hour. The more it's chilled the less it spreads during baking.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Shape the dough into tiny crescents using 1 teaspoon of dough for each cookie. Place them on an ungreased sheet pan in rows, leaving 1 inch in between for spreading and bake until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.
• Let cool 5 minutes. Dredge them in confectioners' sugar.

PECAN-CRANBERRY CREAM CHEESE CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Beat the butter, cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar and the salt in a large bowl with a mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix until crumbly, about 1 minute. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead with your hands to make a soft dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Make the filling: Put the dried cranberries and 1 tablespoon water in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave until plump, about 1 minute. Let cool. Stir in the pecans, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon, then stir in the milk.
• Roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out circles using a 3 1/2-inch-round cookie cutter. Gather the scraps; reroll once to cut more circles. Place a heaping teaspoonful of filling on the bottom third of each circle, leaving a small border. Brush the edges with a little milk, fold the dough over the filling and roll to enclose; pinch the 2 ends closed and bend into a crescent shape. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the baking sheets; brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets.