Ingredients
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions
Heat oven to 400. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and vanilla. Work in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. While warm, roll in confectioners sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Makes 4 dozen

10 oz ground almonds
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt
1 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of pine nuts, chopped
granulated sugar

Cream butter and sugar until very soft; mix in the ground almonds, salt, vanilla and flour. The dough will be rather firm.

Cut off pieces about the size of prunes and roll them into little cigar-shaped pieces about 1/2-inch thick. Roll these in the chopped pine nuts and bend them into a half-moon shape.

Place these 1-inch apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes. The crescents should not be browned. Cool about 5 minutes, then strew with a little granulated sugar.

1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. honey
2 c. dry powdered milk
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. finely grated carrots
1 c. uncooked oatmeal
1/4 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. coconut
Little water

Preparation :
Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly. Shape into sticks the size of fingers. Roll in coconut if desired. Chill in refrigerator.

1/2 c. soft butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. crushed or powdered cardamom
1 egg, beaten

Preparation :
Cream butter and sugar until light, then add egg, beating until thick. Stir in cream. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and add, with cardamom, to creamed mixture, mixing until stiff dough forms. Chill. Shape chilled dough into balls, about 1 inch, and arrange on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cookies may be brushed with egg before baking to give shiny glaze.

Makes about 4 dozen.

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sifted flour
Sprinkles for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixer with a paddle attachment,
add the sugar and the butter. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the
egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix to incorporate. Sift together
the baking powder and the flour. Add the flour mixture. Mix until
combined. Using a cookie press, press cookies onto ungreased cookie
sheets. Top with the sprinkles of your choice. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes,
or until firm, but not yet browning.

Yield: approximately 4 dozen

1 cup margarine
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey (or 2 cups sugar)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
hard candies (such as lollipops or life savers)

1. Mix margarine, shortening, sugar, honey, eggs and vanilla.
2. Add flour, soda and salt. Add flour and chill the dough for
at least 1 hour.
3. On waxed paper roll out the dough and cut shapes with cookie
cutters. Then cut out areas for “windows”.
or
Roll dough into “snakes”. Shape the snakes into cookies–leaving
some open spaces.
4. Place the cookies on a well-greased cookie sheet. Fill the
openings with crushed hard candies or a whole life saver.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5
minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces), for rolling dough
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces), preferably Pillsbury or Gold Medal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but still firm (60 to 65 degrees)
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In food processor, process 1/2 cup sugar and fresh ginger until combined, about 10 seconds; set aside for rolling.

2. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside.

3. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment or with hand mixer, beat butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add egg, crystallized ginger, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Place ginger sugar for rolling in shallow bowl. Fill medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Dip hands in water and shake off excess (this will prevent dough from sticking to your hands and ensure that sugar sticks to dough). Roll heaping tablespoon dough into 1 1/2-inch ball between moistened palms; roll ball in ginger sugar, then place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, moistening hands after forming each ball and spacing balls about 2 inches apart on baking sheet (you should be able to fit 12 cookies on each sheet). Using butter wrapper, butter bottom of drinking glass; dip bottom of glass in remaining ginger sugar and flatten dough balls with bottom of glass until dough is about 3/4 inch thick.

5. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges and just set and very lightly colored in center, 15 to 18 minutes, reversing position of cookie sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet about 3 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), salted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup extra-crunchy peanut butter , preferably Jif
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup roasted salted peanuts , ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses (about 1 cup, packed)

1. Adjust oven rack to low center position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

2. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes with electric mixer, stopping to scrape down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated.

3. Working with 2 tablespoons dough at a time (see illustration 1 below), roll into large balls, placing them 2 inches apart on a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Following illustration 2, press each dough ball with back of dinner fork dipped in cold water to make crisscross design. Bake until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges, but not top, 10 to 12 minutes (they will not look fully baked). Cool cookies on cookie sheet until set, about 4 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 7 days.

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons bleaches, all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound almond slices

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, on medium speed. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Cream the mixture until it is smooth and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for 1 minute and add the vanilla. Add the flour and salt to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until it is fully incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the batter is thick and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle. Generously dust a large sheet of parchment or waxed paper with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Spoon the dough down the center of the paper, fold the paper tightly over the dough, and roll into a cylinder about 3 inches in diameter and 12 to 14 inches long. Refrigerate for 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and peel away the paper. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Generously sprinkle the top of each cookie with almonds, lightly pressing them into the dough. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan.

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
42 maraschino cherries, drained, reserving 4 to 5 teaspoons juice
1 (6-ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Add to sugar mixture; mix well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Indent centers; fill each with 1 cherry. Combine chocolate pieces and sweetened condensed milk in small saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth. Blend in enough cherry juice to reach spreading consistency. Drop 1 teaspoon chocolate mixture over each cherry, spreading to cover cherry. Bake in preheated 350°F oven 12 minutes or until set.