Nutella Crescent Cookies

Nutella-Crescent Cookies
Makes 16 dozen cookies
This is an old family recipe that we make for wedding, communions, baby showers… you name it! I just recently made a batch for the sweet table at my own wedding! I know the recipe makes a lot of cookies but seeing as you can freeze them its not that bad, besides who can resist a cookie filled with Nutella? You can rest assured that these cookies won’t be around long enough to go stale! The dough has a mild vanilla flavor and the addition of the yeast creates an extremely tender dough. The filling is simply rich Nutella, a chocolate-hazelnut spread that’s commonly found in supermarkets and specialty stores across North America and Europe but if you can’t find feel free to use any kind of chocolate spread you can get.

1 big jar of Nutella
4 eggs
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 lb unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 rounded tablespoon yeast
3 oz. Warm water, 110∞F
5-6 cups flour
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a small dish dissolve yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar in warm water and let stand for 5 minutes.
In a separate bowl sift together 1 cup of flour and the confectioners’ sugar and set aside. We’ll use this later to roll out the dough.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the eggs, remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar, butter, salt, and vanilla extract. Add in yeast mixture and mix until well incorporated. Add 1 cup of flour and change paddle attachment for dough hook. Add in 2 to 3 cups flour as needed to obtain a smooth ball of dough being careful not to over work the dough which will cause the glutens in the flour to develop and the dough to be tough. Divide dough into 16 equal sized balls and refrigerate in an airtight container for 36 to 48 hours.
Preheat oven to 350∞F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Fill a disposable piping bag with Nutella or chocolate spread of your choice and set aside.
Remove 3 balls of dough from the refrigerator at a time. Lightly dust work surface with sugar mixture and roll out dough to a 12 inch round, about 1/8 of an inch thick. Using a fluted pastry cutter, divide the circle of dough into 8 triangles.
Pipe a stream of chocolate filling no wider than the width of a pencil along the round edge of each triangle leaving about half an inch of space from the edge and sides to keep filling from oozing out during baking. Starting at the edge with the piped filling roll each triangle towards the center, creating a crescent shaped cookie and place on baking sheet about one inch apart. Make sure cookies are place point side down to prevent them from unrolling during the baking progress.
Bake cookies for 10 minutes rotating the trays after five minutes to ensure even coloring. Cookies will be slightly puffed and barely golden.
Repeat with remaining balls of dough always removing 3 from the refrigerator at a time.
If you like baked cookies can be lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar for an added touch of elegance. Cooled cookies can be store at room temperature for up to a week in an airtight container or up to a month in the freezer, but I doubt they’ll last that long!