1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Finely grind half of nuts in food processor to texture of coarse cornmeal, 10-15 secs, then transfer to medium bowl. Coarsely chop remaining nuts in food processor, about 5 seconds; transfer to same bowl and stir in flour and salt.
3. In large bowl, beat butter and superfine sugar with hand-held mixer until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly mix in nut-flour mixture until combined, about 30 secs. Scrape bowl and beaters and continue to beat on low speed until dough is cohesive, about 7 seconds.
4. Working with 1 T of dough at a time, roll dough into balls and lay on prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until pale gold and bottoms are just beginning to brown, about 18 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets halfway through baking.
5. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Roll cookies, 3 or 4 at a time, in confectioners’ sugar to coat. Just before serving, re-roll cookies in additional confectioners’ sugar and gently shake off excess.

Notes: In order to make these Russian Tea Cakes, instead of making rounds with the dough, take the same amount, cradle it in the palm of one hand, then gently press it into a cone shape with the fingers of the other hand. The end result should be a small blunted cone with a round bottom. Lay it on one side for baking. In my family, instead of powdered sugar, we would make an easy frosting with powdered sugar, dye it different colors, then frost the rounded end of the cone.

To make superfine sugar, process 1 C + 2 tsp white sugar in a food processor for 30 secs.

To make Confectioners’ sugar, pulverize 1 C white sugar + 1 tsp cornstarch in a blender or food processor for at least one minute, then strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove large particles.