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1
Put 2 1/4 cups of the flour with the sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, and blend well.
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2
Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, just enough to blend yolks and whites, and then set aside 1 tablespoon for the final glazing.
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3
Pour the remaining eggs and the vanilla into the dry ingredients, and mix until the dough comes together.
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4
If it seems too wet to pick up and knead, add a little more flour; if it seems too dry, sprinkle a little water onto the dry spots.
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5
Knead a few turns with floured hands.
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6
Now grate the peel of the orange (I use the coarse holes of a box grater, because I like larger pieces of orange than fine grating gives).
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7
Chop the nuts into coarse pieces, and knead them into the dough along with the grated orange to distribute evenly.
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8
Divide the dough in half, and form two logs approximately 10 inches long.
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9
Put them on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet, several inches apart, and paint the sides and tops with the reserved egg glaze.
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10
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes.
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11
Turn the oven down to 300, and remove the two pieces to cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
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12
When they have cooled, use a serrated bread knife to cut diagonal slices a little more than 1/2 inch thick, and lay them out flat on a large cookie sheet.
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13
Return them to the oven for 15 minutes.
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14
Remove, and cool on a rack thoroughly before storing in a large cookie tin.
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15
You can use different nuts and raisins in the dough, as well as grated lemon, or make chocolate dough, adding 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips to the dough and working in some broken-up chocolate.
