PRUNE AND WALNUT CRECENTS

Prune and Walnut Crecents image

Yield Makes about 5 dozen small pastries

Number Of Ingredients 16

For pastry dough
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 (8-oz) package cold cream cheese, quartered
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
For filling
3/4 cup walnuts (3 oz), toasted
1 cup pitted prunes (6 oz)
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cream Sherry or water
For egg wash
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Special Equipment
a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter

Steps:

Make pastry dough:
Pulse butter, cream cheese, sugar, salt, and flour in a food processor just until a dough forms. (Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.)
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough and form into 2 balls, then flatten each ball into a 6-inch disk. Chill disks, each wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
Make filling:
Pulse walnuts, prunes, sugar, cinnamon, and Sherry in food processor until nuts are finely chopped and filling forms a thick paste.
Form and bake crescents:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Roll out 1 disk of dough (keep the other chilled) into a roughly 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out rounds with floured cookie cutter. Chill scraps.
Put 1/2 teaspoon of filling in center of 1 dough round. Brush some of egg wash halfway around pastry, near edge, then fold dough over filling, forming a half-moon shape. Pinch edges to seal. Make more crescents in same manner, rerolling scraps (but only once).
Arrange crescents 1/2 inch apart on 2 buttered large baking sheets and lightly brush tops with egg wash. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.