Almond Butter Cookies

My mother had a glass which had a design carved into the base of it shaped like a star. By pressing this glass into the dough it left a raised imprint of a star. If you check some of your glassware, especially the older kinds, I am sure you can find one similar to use. Cookie Stamps also are available which you can use.

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 Cups flour

1 tsp almond extract

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add salt and flour. Chill the dough. Form 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Stamp with cookie stamp. Bake 350 degrees 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Vienna Cookies

These were considered dainty cookies, or tea cookies. Usually they were served with icecreams or tea. The binding dough is a buttery one with a hint of lemon. Viennese cooky like pastries used only the yolk of the egg to keep the dough as tender as possible. Here is the unusual note, the yolks were hard boiled and sieved before becoming part of the cooky dough.

Typically these cookies were topped with an almond half. Heating the whole almonds first makes them easier to split. Place the nuts in a shallow pan in a 300 degree oven for about 5 minutes. As soon as they are cool enough to handle split them into halves with the sharp tip of a small kitchen knife.

If nuts are not for you, a dusting of confections sugar, or a sliver of cherry also could grace the cookies top. Sometimes we did all 3 just to make an assortment.

Ingredients

1/2 cup blanched almonds

4 hard cooked egg yolks

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped candied cherries

1/4 cup chopped candied pineapple

1 1/2 cup sifted flour

18 whole blanched almonds splint into halves

Finely chop the 1/2 cup almonds. Sieve egg yolks. Cream butter with egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and salt until very light and fluffy. Stir in chopped almonds, cherries and pineapple. Add flour, mixing to make a soft dough. Chill dough until easy to handle.

Form the dough into 1 inch balls; place on lightly greased cooky sheet and flatten to 1/2 inch. Lightly press an almond half into each. Bake on a high rack in the oven at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Yield about 3 dozen cookies.

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