Grandma made these every Christmas, but you could make them for New Year's Eve. As I remember, hers weren't this good. They were kind of flat. Must be my Kitchen Aid. Could be our Serenity Farm eggs ... I do remember an awful-smelling henhouse out back, so Grandma had natural eggs too. But that was a long time ago. This is half of Grandma (Josephine Krumm)'s recipe. It's German.
Vanilla Strips
4 egg whites at room temperature
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C. toasted walnuts, ground fine (I use the Muehli mill that is a gift from Dale, but a food processor should work too. Or just chop them like crazy.)
3/4 C. fine, sifted bread crumbs (I had some in the freezer, made from leftover stale bread.)
Start beating the egg whites. Gradually add sugar, while beating them for about 15 minutes. (The old recipe says this, but Grandma's mixer was different. I've done it in less time. This year, though, I followed the directions, dribbling sugar in slowly.) It should be fluffy and stiff and almost intolerably sweet.
Divide the mixture into two equal parts (says Grandma -- I do 1/3 to 2/3.) Add crumbs and nuts to the small part and vanilla to the other. Roll out the crumb/nut mixture on a floured board to about 1/8." Cut in trips 1" x 2." Put them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. They don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together. Cover with the vanilla mixture. I just use a spoon, but you could use one of those press things for a professional look. Bake at 325° about 7 minutes, or until just lightly brown.
Note: This year I ended up beating another couple of whites with more vanilla and sugar. I must have been extra generous with the topping; I needed more. Also, I forgot the bread crumbs, but added more nuts. It was delicious, maybe a little crisper than usual. It made three nicely crowded cookie sheets.
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