In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mix in.

If your walnuts are not already ground, grind the walnuts using an electric mixer or place them inside a kitchen towel and crush them with a rolling pin.

Add the ground walnuts and the flour to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

I find the mixture is crumbly at first and then comes together in my fist as I squeeze it to form a dough. This can also be done in an electric mixer until it forms the crumb texture and then finished by hand to form the dough.

Once the dough has come together, cut off a large golf ball size piece and roll it out until it is about 1cm thick.

Cut the cylinder into 6cm (2.3 inches) length pieces.

Take each piece and gently squeeze and roll the ends, so that the ends become a little pointed like a croissant.

Now bend the piece into a crescent shape and place it on the baking tray.

Continue until all the dough has been used up and then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven 170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Set aside to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes and then dust with icing sugar.