VIENNESE CRESCENTS (6 dozen cookies)

½ vanilla bean

1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 cup walnut meats

½ pound butter, at room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar

2-1/2 cups flour

1. Chop the vanilla bean. Pound it in a mortar or pulverize it in a blender with about 1 tablespoon of the confectioners’ sugar. Mix with the remaining confectioners’ sugar.  Cover and let stand, preferably overnight.  Reserve while cookies are baked.

2. Preheat the oven to 350*.

3. Put the walnuts into the container of a food processor and chop until a paste forms. Add butter, granulated sugar and flour and process until a smooth dough forms.  Shape the dough, about a teaspoon at a time, into small crescents, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

4. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet until light brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool 1 minute.  While still warm, roll the cookies in the reserved vanilla sugar.

from Craig Claiborne, The New York Times Cookbook

SERVE WITH:  Alice B. Toklas’ cream perfect love