Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 . Brush 3 or 4 large, heavy baking sheets with melted butter. Dust with flour. Place the butter in a small stainless steel bowl and beat with a wooden spatula, warming it over low heat as needed to make it smooth, white and creamy. Sift the sugar over the butter and beat it in. Beat in 1 egg or egg white with the wooden spatula. Beat in the remaining egg or whites, 1 at a time, with a wire whisk. Whisk in the vanilla. Sift the flour over the batter and mix it in with the wooden spatula.

Scoop the batter into a large pastry bat fitted with a 5/16" plain pastry tube (Ateco #3) and pipe the batter on the diagonal in fingers 2-1/2" long and 3/8" wide at the center, arranging them on the baking sheets in staggered rows and separating them by 1-1/2". The ends of each finger should be fatter than the center, like a dumbbell. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges but still pale in the center, about 6 to 10 minutes. Slide the cookies onto a wire rack using a metal spatula and let cook to room temperature. Store in a covered airtight cookie jar or tin for up to 1 week.

Cookie Book.

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