Vanilla Crescents

By LoriCaputo

Ingredients

• 1 vanilla bean
• 2/3 cup blanched almonds
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, cut into slivers
• 2 egg yolks
• vanilla sugar (see below) or powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out the
pith. Grind the amonds very fine. With a
large knife, blend together the almonds with
the flour sugar, salt, vanilla pith, and
butter, using a chopping motion, on a work
board. Add the egg yolk and knead to form a
dough. Chill, wrapped in plastic. Shape the
dough into a roll and cut into 50 equal
pieces. Preheat the oven to 375F. Form the pieces into small rolls with pointy tapering ends; bend these into crescents and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in the center of the oven until light brown, about 12 minutes. Dredge the crescents while still warm in vanilla sugar or powdered sugar. Reapply sugar after they cool (sift over the top inside their storage container).

To make vanilla sugar: Keep caster sugar and a vanilla bean in an air tight jar, after a few weeks the sugar will taste of vanilla.