Directions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
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 inche plain pastry tube (Ateco #3) and pipe the batter on the diagonal in fingers 2-1/2 inches long and 3/8 inches wide at the center, arranging them on the baking sheets in staggered rows and separating them by 1-1/2 inches.
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.
