Nutty Angel Fingers
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus about
- 1 cup for coating the cookies
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (8 ounces) finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Instructions:
The cookies can be baked up to 1 week ahead.
- Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the butter with 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar until light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, work in the flour, then the chopped nuts, to make a crumbly dough. Gather up the dough and press it together.
- Using 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie, squeeze the dough in your fist to make a rough 2½-inch log. Roll the log between your palms to smooth it. Place the logs 1 inch apart on cookie sheets lined with nonstick baking pads. (These cookies don’t spread during baking, but don’t put them too close together or they won’t brown as nicely.)
- Bake, switching the position of the cookie sheets from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Don’t underbake the cookies or they will crumble. Place ½ cup of the remaining confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. Let the cookies stand on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then roll the warm cookies in the sugar. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Before serving, roll the cookies again in the remaining ½ cup confectioners’ sugar to freshen their coating.