Vanilla Crescents

This recipe also came from Country Desserts by Lee Bailey. These were very brittle and easily broken, so the handling was a bit difficult. Making them was a breeze though, other than the part where you attempt to shape them like crescents. The taste was pretty good, but nothing terribly special. Perhaps I should've used more vanilla. I bought expensive Madagascar vanilla beans, so I think I was a bit cheap with them.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup sugar plus 2 cups for coating
1 vanilla bean, crushed in chunks
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/3 cups sifted flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place sugar and vanilla bean in a food processor. Pulse off and on a few times until the beans are chopped. Add walnuts and process until finely chopped.
3. Add butter and flour and process, scraping down if necessary, until the dough is pliable.
4. Pinch off walnut-sized dough and shape into balls. Shape balls into small crescents. You can place them close since these don't spread.
5. Bake for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for additional 10-15 minutes or until tan and dry. I ended up baking them about 30 minutes total as my oven's not exactly accurate.
6. Roll the hot cookies in sugar.

P.S My significant other's cousins loved these cookies.