Vanilla Crescents With Nut Filling

These fun-shaped cookies are not too sweet, yet they are packed with taste and nutrition. Now becoming available at health food stores, shelled hemp seeds, also called hemp hearts, are an excellent source of both omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids as well as digestible protein.

Dough:
2 cups (500 ml) kamut, spelt or whole wheat flour, finely ground
1 free-range egg
1/4 cup (60 ml) honey or natural cane sugar such as Rapadura
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup (165 ml) butter or coconut butter
Pinch sea salt, to taste

Filling:
3/4 cup (185 ml) filberts (hazelnuts), coarsely ground
1/2 cup (125 ml) shelled hemp seeds or sunflower seeds, chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) almonds, coarsely ground
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
1/4 cup (60 ml) honey
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk or soy milk, boiling hot
1 Tbsp (15 ml) cocoa or carob powder

Topping:
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp (15 ml) milk or soy milk

Mix all dough ingredients in order as listed and knead into a dough. Place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

To make the filling, mix together nuts (and seeds), lemon zest, lemon juice and honey in a bowl. Thoroughly mix in boiling milk. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease a cookie sheet or cover it with baking parchment.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch (three-mm) thick. Cut into three-inch-wide (eight-cm-wide) squares. Cut each square diagonally to form triangles. Put about one teaspoon (five ml) of filling in the middle and roll from the wide end into the shape of a crescent.

Mix egg yolk and milk, then brush on top of crescents. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool crescents on a rack, then store them in tins. Makes 12 to 15.

Source: alive #242, December 2002