Croquants – Croquets a Provencal Christmas Dessert Recipe
@Cocoa & Lavender
I started by looking at my friend Susan’s blog, The Modern Trobadors. I recall her sharing a story about the traditional Treize Désserts de Noël (thirteen Christmas desserts) served in Provence during the holiday season. The list from which to choose is much longer than thirteen and begins with the “four beggars” (les quatre mendiants), representing the four mendicant monastic orders: Dominicans (raisins), Franciscans (figs), Augustinian (hazelnuts), and Carmelites (almonds). You may recall that my Mendiant Tart was based on the four beggars. You can make anything using any of these four, and it counts towards your thirteen… read more about David’s seasonal inspiration for croquants.
Croquants - Croquets
This crunchy little cookie biscuit is the French version of the Italian Biscotti or Biscotto. It's delightfully good served with your favourite tea or coffee or, let's be honest, completely on its own.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 3/4 oz (250 gr) almonds blanched and peeled
- 8 3/4 oz (250 gr) sugar
- 8 3/4 oz (250 gr) flour plus extra
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp orange blossom water
- 2 oz (50 gr) almonds blanched and peeled
- 1 tsp egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Place the whole blanched almonds (see notes) in the bowl of a food processor. You can also use the same weight in pre-blanched slivered almonds or - even easier - pre-ground almond flour/meal.
- Pulse the nuts until they are uniformly cut into small pieces, then process until they have the texture of sand. If you use pre-ground flour/meal, it already has this consistency.
- Add the sugar to the processor and continue to pulse until very fine in texture.
- The sugar will help in grinding the almonds even finer. Pour the almonds and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
- Add flour and whisk to blend.
- Make a well in the centre and add the eggs and orange blossom water.
- Whisk the eggs and orange blossom water into a paste. As you whisk, the liquids will gather some of the dry ingredients to make a thick paste.
- Then, using a large wooden spoon, continue mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Eventually, you will need to give up the spoon and use your hands.
- Pour the dough out onto a floured board and knead it to create a homogeneous dough – just a minute or two.
- Flatten the dough into a long oval.
- Coarsely chop the remaining 50 grams of whole almonds and sprinkle the nuts on the dough.
- Fold or roll the dough to encase the nuts (it doesn't matter how you do this!) and knead the dough a few more items to distribute the nuts.
- Depending on the size of your eggs, the dough may be a little sticky.
- Pull the dough into a ball, flatten it, then divide it equally into six pieces.
- If the dough is sticky, dust each piece liberally with flour.
- Then, roll the pieces of dough into cylinders, 6 inches (15 cm) long and 1 1/4-inches (4 cm) thick.
- Add more flour, if necessary.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment and place 3 cylinders on each sheet of parchment.
- Flatten each cylinder gently with the palm of your hand.
- You want the end view to be an oval.
- Brush the tops of the cylinders with the egg yolk and water mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 38 minutes (they should be quite golden), then transfer to a cutting board.
- While still warm, cut them into 3/8-inch (1 cm) slices and return them to the baking sheet, standing up with space between each cookie.
- Place them in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp the cut sides.
Notes
Blanching almonds is easy! Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add raw almonds and return to a boil. Cook them for 60 seconds and drain. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, take each almond between your fingers and squeeze; the skins will slip right off.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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