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#17 Brazil Nut Crescents 1958

Light as a feather, these cookies showcase the Brazil nut.
After my fiasco of many ingredients (the Oatmeal Molasses Cookies seem so last month), I wondered if only four ingredients would be enough to make a decent attempt at a cookie. I creamed the butter, added sugar, flour and finely chopped Brazil nuts, as instructed. I kneaded the dough on a floured surface a bit, and formed my 2-inch cylinder of dough.

The ridged crescent shapes emerge when you cut off each slice. As you cut, each round compresses into more of an oval or square. Help it shape by giving it a pat on top. Then, poke a finger sideways into the middle of each slice, and pull the ends toward you to form the crescents.

Cookie rounds flatten as you slice them.
I expected a firm cookie, like the Mexican Wedding Cakes I've made. But these are lighter. When I bit in, they crumbled like an abandoned sand castle. OK, edible sand castle. I wondered how they had stayed together until then. The texture difference comes from the amount of butter - half the butter in this recipe compared to my sturdier cookies, where butter must have bound the flour together.

Poke a finger sideways into the center to shape them.
When friends tasted these, they were impressed with the delicate flavor. But there was something missing, they told me. I had to agree. A bit of salt and vanilla would make these just right, combining the best features of both recipes.

To be fair, the notes for these cookies suggest salted butter. I'm no longer used to using salted butter for baking, so salt really should be in the list of ingredients.

Pull the ends toward you to complete the crescent moon.
Update: An addition of 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla made a subtle but significant improvement to my second batch. I'm still not over-the-moon about the fall-apart crumble of these crescents, but the flavor soars. I would eat these with tea or wine, or a fine Port.

Can I add enough butter to keep these buggers light but hold up to travel?

The recipe is here and here.

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