These tasty walnut cookies are an absolute hit in Europe and the Balkan area! They are famous madeleines look-alikes, but people traditionally make them with lard.
In a large bowl, add flour and baking powder. Mix until well combined. Add lard to the bowl and start incorporating the mixture with your hands. You will end up with a crumbly mixture.
In another medium-size bowl, add shredded walnuts and granulated sugar. Mix until combined.
In another small bowl, break the eggs and beat the eggs for 10-15 seconds.
Add beaten eggs, milk and walnut, and sugar mixture to the bowl with flour and lard mixture. Start working the dough with your hands until you get more incorporated mass (half a minute or so). Then, transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Work the dough with your hands until you get a firm and slightly sticky dough.
Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheits. Grease the madeleines molds with a little bit of unsalted butter and dust with the flour. Shake off any excess flour.
Take a piece of dough and make a ball with your hands just big enough to fit nicely into a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon (roughly about 1.25 oz or 35g). Make 48 equal dough balls and place the first 24 onto the greased molds. I have only two madeleines molds, but feel free to place all the dough balls into the molds if you have more than two molds. You will still have to bake it in two separate batches. This will speed up the preparation process.
Press the dough balls with your fingers to fit the madeleines mold. The heat from your fingers will be enough to shape the dough onto the molds. Make sure the dough does not go over the edges of the mold. Also, the dough will have a small bump on top so it won't be flat.
Place the madeleines molds in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. The top of the cookies will be pale.
While the cookies are baking, add powdered sugar and vanilla sugar into a large plate and mix until combined.
Once you remove the cookies from the oven, remove them from the molds. Give them a gentle nudge with a knife or a fork, and they will pop out easily. Place them on the wire rack. Roll the cookies into the sugar mixture, and you can even gently rub the sugar onto the cookies so it sticks easily. Be careful, since the cookies will be warm.
Repeat the process for the second batch of cookies. Grease and flour the molds and place the cookie dough balls into the molds (if you only have two molds). If you have already done that, place the molds in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, roll the cookies into the sugar mixture, and put them on the wire rack. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Measure the ingredients correctly. Always spoon and level the ingredients or even use the scale.
Grease the molds generously and dust them with flour. This will ensure that your cookies don't stick to the molds.
Make the dough balls as equally as you can. Make sure that you make the dough ball equal since this will ensure equal baking.
Roll the cookies while they are still warm straight from the oven. If you don't roll the cookies into the sugar mixture when they are warm, the sugar won't stick to them.