Viennese Crescents (Kipfel)

For the cookies: Put flour, butter, nuts, the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly blended and no traces of dry ingredients remain. Shape the dough into a ball.

Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Meanwhile, make the vanilla sugar: With a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the center. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean pod and set the seeds aside. Then cut the pod into 2-inch pieces.

Combine the vanilla bean seeds and pod pieces with 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar in a food processor bowl and blend on high for about 8 seconds. Combine with the remaining powdered sugar in a large bowl, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of cookie dough, and roll into a 3-inch-long rope. Repeat, and place ropes about 2 inches apart on an un-greased baking sheet, curving them to make them look like small crescents.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown.

While the cookies are still warm, roll in the vanilla sugar, coating all sides. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Once the cookies have cooled completely, roll again in the vanilla sugar before serving.

Makes about 4 dozen.