Vanilla Half-Moons

Great German recipe. It has been very popular at our home during the holidays.

• Preparation Time: 2 mins
• Cooking Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 12 mins
• Calories: 49 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 2 egg yolks
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 1 ½ vanilla beans, divided
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar for rolling

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Split the half of vanilla bean and scrape the seeds; stir the seeds into the butter mixture. Mix in the flour and ground almonds. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap and refrigerate until firm.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Break off tablespoonful sized pieces of dough and roll them into little ropes about 2 inches long. Bend the ropes into a half circle and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Step 3

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Scrape the seeds from the remaining vanilla bean and stir them into the confectioners' sugar. Carefully roll warm cookies in the vanilla sugar.