Walnut Crescents

Ingredients

• 2 cups walnuts
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the walnuts with 1/2 cup of the flour until the walnuts are powdery, about 4 pulses. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the salt and pulse to combine.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter, granulated sugar and vanilla bean seeds on moderately high speed until pale and light, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture until the dough comes together.
3. Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls on the prepared baking sheets. Using your hands, roll the balls of dough into 2-inch ropes. Taper the ends slightly and form the ropes into crescents. Bake the crescents for about 19 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Transfer the baking sheets to a wire rack and let cool. Dust the crescents with confectioners’ sugar before serving.