Walnut-Filled Rožteky Crescents: Soft Sour Cream Dough With No Yeast and No Rising Time

These sour cream walnut crescents (rožteky) are a classic cookie that is easy to love. The sour cream dough makes them incredibly soft and tender. The recipe is also a nice example of zero-waste baking: the yolk goes into the dough and the white goes into the filling.

They come together quickly, with no yeast and no long rising. The walnut filling gives them that true holiday flavor. They tend to disappear from the tray first!

How do you make sour cream walnut crescents?

Make a dough from sour cream, butter, yolk and flour and chill it. Make the filling from the egg white, sugar and walnuts. Roll out the dough, cut it into triangles, fill, roll up and bake until lightly golden, 15–20 minutes.

At a Glance

• Prep time: 20 min (plus 30 min chilling)
• Baking time: 15–20 min
• Servings: about 32 cookies
• Difficulty: Easy
• Calories: about 70 kcal per cookie
• Trend: Zero-waste

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder, a pinch of salt and the vanilla sugar. Mix.
2. Add the cold cubed butter. Quickly rub the flour and butter together with your hands into crumbs.
3. Add the sour cream and egg yolk. Bring the ingredients together quickly into a smooth, non-sticky dough.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.
5. Meanwhile, make the filling. Whip the egg white with the granulated sugar to stiff peaks.
6. Gently fold the ground walnuts into the whipped white with a spatula.
7. Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Divide the chilled dough into 4 equal parts. Shape each into a ball.
9. One at a time, roll each ball out on a floured surface into a thin circle.
10. Cut each circle into 8 equal triangles with a pastry wheel (like a pizza).
11. Put a small teaspoon of the walnut filling on the wide end of each triangle.
12. Roll up toward the tip into a crescent shape. You can curve the ends slightly.
13. Place the crescents on the prepared baking sheet with small gaps between them.
14. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes. They should stay pale; only the edges may turn slightly golden.
15. While the crescents are still hot, roll them in the prepared powdered sugar.

Video Recipe

Tips for Perfect Walnut Filled Crescent Cookies

• Soft dough: Sour cream and the egg yolk are the secret to tenderness. Do not knead the dough longer than it takes to bring the ingredients together, or the butter will soften and the dough will turn sticky.
• Do not overbake them! The crescents must stay pale. If you bake them longer, the dough will turn hard. 15–20 minutes at 350°F (180°C) is plenty.

Easy Variations

• Poppy seed crescents: Instead of walnuts, fold 150 g (about 1 cup) ground poppy seeds into the whipped white and add a little lemon zest.
• Farmer’s cheese filling: Mix 200 g (7 oz) firm farmer’s cheese (or dry curd cottage cheese) with 1 egg yolk and vanilla sugar. In this case, use the egg white in the dough.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The crescents are tender and taste best after resting until the next day, with coffee. Store them in a tin in a cool place.

The recipe is based on an idea from the YouTube channel SABINA foodee, adapted by the We Cook With Love team.

Enjoy! Try more recipes from our kitchen.