Vanilla crescent cookies

To make these vanilla crescent cookies, first sift the all-purpose flour into a large bowl. Add the ground walnuts and the powdered sugar, then stir everything together so the nuts are evenly distributed. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and rub it into the dry mixture with your fingertips until fine, even crumbs form. Work fairly quickly here. If the butter warms up and softens too much, the baked treats will spread and lose their delicate, melting bite.

Add the raw egg yolk to the crumbs and bring everything together into a smooth dough. Do not overwork it. Long kneading develops gluten and the result turns tough instead of tender. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, which makes it much easier to shape later.

Cut small pieces from the chilled dough and roll them between your palms into thin logs about 1 cm thick. Bend each log into a slim crescent with tapered ends. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and leave a little space between the pieces so the heat circulates and they bake evenly.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C and slide the sheet into the middle. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the underside is lightly golden. Keep an eye on the colour near the end. The tops should stay pale, because if they brown they harden once cooled and lose their tender, crumbly bite.

Mix the powdered sugar in a bowl together with the vanilla sugar. Timing matters here. While the baked pieces are still hot, roll them gently in the sugar so it clings all over the surface and partly melts into a fragrant coating. Let them cool completely on a wire rack. Just before serving, you can dust them with a little more sugar for a fresh, snowy finish.