VIENNESE CRESCENTS

Viennese Crescents image

The following recipe came from the original edition of ''The New York Times Cook Book'' and was published on Dec. 18, 1955, when Nika Hazelton, the food writer, said it was the greatest cookie recipe ever devised.

Provided by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

Categories dessert

Time 35m

Yield 72 crescents

Number Of Ingredients 6

Ingredients

1/4 vanilla bean
1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 cup walnut meats
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Steps:

Chop vanilla bean. Pound it in a mortar or pulverize it in an electric blender with about one tablespoon of the confectioner's sugar. Mix with the remaining confectioners' sugar. Cover and let stand, preferably overnight. Reserve while cookies are baked.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut walnuts with a sharp knife into very small pieces. Pound the pieces to a paste, using mortar and pestle.
With a wooden spoon or the fingers, mix walnuts, butter, granulated sugar and flour to a smooth dough. Shape dough, about a teaspoon at a time, into small crescents about one and a half inches in diameter.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet until lightly browned, or 15 to 18 minutes. Cool one minute. While still warm, roll cookies in prepared vanilla sugar.

Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 54, UnsaturatedFat 1 gram, Carbohydrate 7 grams, Fat 3 grams, Fiber 0 grams, Protein 1 gram, SaturatedFat 2 grams, Sodium 2 milligrams, Sugar 3 grams, TransFat 0 grams