Pecan Crescents

ingredients

• 1 cup pecans (1/2 cup)
• 2 sticks salted butter, softened
  2 2/3 sticks whipped butter
  2 sticks hydrogenated fat
  2 sticks margarine
  1 1/2 sticks olive oil
• 1 (1 pound) box confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
• Special equipment: a pastry cloth

directions

Pulse pecans in a food processor until finely ground (being careful not to grind to a paste). Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, then add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in water and vanilla, then flour and nuts, beating on low speed until blended well. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

On a lightly floured pastry cloth, roll level teaspoons of dough into 3 inch ropes, tapering ends. Curve each roll, as formed, into a crescent and arrange crescents 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets. Bake in batches in middle of oven until pale golden, 13 minutes. While cookies are baking, sift remaining confectioners sugar into a shallow bowl. As cookies are done, transfer, a few at a time, to sugar and gently toss to coat, tapping off excess. (Sugar will melt slightly onto hot cookies.) Cool cookies on a rack. If you want sugar coating to be white and powdery, toss cookies in confectioners sugar again when cool