
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- powdered sugar for rolling
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place rack in the bottom 1/3 of the oven. Line 2 baking sheets.
- In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar together. Beat in the vanilla extract. Gradually blend in the flour (the dough should be crumbly). Fold in the walnuts.
- Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into balls (or pack into a 1/2 tbsp scoop to shape half-dome pieces). Place 1" apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 12 minutes. (They may still be tacky on the surface - this is okay. They will harden as they cool, and that tackiness will help the powdered sugar to stick and set.)
- While still warm, roll in powdered sugar and transfer to wire racks to cool. (Note that the powdered sugar sticks best when the cookies are warm, so that the sugar melts a little. After they've cooled, you can dump them in a container with more powdered sugar so that they look nice and Christmas-y.)