As I was flipping through the pages of an old Kalajian-family cookbook, a yellowed, slightly tattered piece of paper dropped to the floor.
When I picked it up, I realized it was a newspaper clipping – obviously from an Armenian-American newspaper. Don’t know which one, or when it was printed.
Apparently my mother-in-law saved this for a long time. She might have made the recipe, but I don’t know for sure. It certainly sounded good!
The recipe, which was submitted to the paper by Ms. Irene Guregian, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, is called “Apricot Crescent Cookies” (Dziranamahig).
Doug discovered that Ms. Guregian still resides in Chelmsford, and with the click of his mouse was able to find her phone number. I called, and had a nice conversation with her daughter Karen. Unfortunately Ms. Guregian isn’t well, and did not recall which paper printed her recipe, but did remember that she created the recipe herself, and Karen confirmed that they are, indeed, delicious.
With Christmas just a few weeks away, I figured I’d better get a head-start on trying out this recipe. I altered it a bit, as noted below, and decided that these Apricot Crescent Cookies really are delicious!
Apricot Crescent Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour (sifted )
- ½ lb butter or margarine
- 1 egg yolk
- ¾ cups sour cream
- ¾ cups chopped walnuts (pecans work well in this, too)
- 1 jar apricot preserves
Instructions
- Cut butter into flour, using fingertips. Add yolk and sour cream. Mix well. Dough should be sticky. Shape into ball and sprinkle with flour.
- Wrap in waxed paper and chill several hours. Divide dough into 3 parts.
- Roll each section out to a large circle like a pie shell. Cut, as you would a pie wedge, into 12 sections or less. Mix nuts into apricot preserves.
- Place heaping teaspoon into large section and start rolling toward small point to make crescent-shape (using fingers) as you place on (ungreased) cookie sheet.
- Bake in 350° oven 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
I'm almost embarassed to post this.
My mom made similar cookies but with a few shortcuts. She used that frozen croissant dough that comes in a cylindrical container (Bisquick? forgot the brand). Then she made a zaatar filling by combining the zaatar (pick your favorite mix or make your own) and olive oil. She brushed the filling on the cookies, rolled them up, and stuck them in the oven following the box directions. Presto! Zaatar crescent cookies for breakfast.
But Ms. Guregian's cookies definitely sound better! Don't tell my mom, though! LOL
The zaatar variety sounds really good, too, although not sweet like the apricot ones. I'll definitely give those a try. Thanks for the recipe, and don't be embarrassed, we all take culinary shortcuts! By the way, the commercially prepared dough you refer to is Pillsbury.
Another really good variation is nutells spread on the dough…
*NUTELLA*
Sorry…
I don’t understand “roll the dough across”- do we roll it up like a jelly roll or fold it in half? I just want to make sure.
If I am understanding your question, once the dough is rolled into a 12"circle, the apricot preserves are brush onto the surface, then nuts are sprinkled on top of that. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 pie-shaped slices. Begin rolling at the wide end of the slice toward the pointed end. Slightly turn the ends downward to create a crescent shape as shown in the photo above. I hope this helps!
My mother in law was a wonderful baker and cook. Unfortunately, I was never able to learn from her, but enjoy listening to the families stories about her cooking and how much fun it was to learn from her. My sister in law Karen was taught well. My husband John even picked up some of her talent in cooking. Sadly, my Mother in law passed May 2017, but her recipes and stories live on in our hearts and memories. She is greatly missed ♡
Sounds good.
What size of preserves? 13 oz ? not every brand comes in the same size jar.
Our family made the crescents with walnuts and cinnamon.
Thanks for pointing that out, Jan. I used a 10-ounce jar of apricot preserves. This was mentioned in the third statement in my ‘Notes’ below the recipe.
Do these freeze welll?
Good question, Lisa. To be honest, I’ve never had a need to freeze these cookies. My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that freezing wouldn’t be a problem, but I’d suggest preparing a test batch to freeze, just to make sure.