COOKIES
2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup grated unblanched almonds
2 tsp vanilla
FROSTING
6 tbsp butter
1/3 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 chopped pistachio nuts
1 for garnish
Directions
Preparation time: 45 minutes Baking time: 16 minutes
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. For cookies, sift flour, sugar and
salt into bowl. Cut in 1 cup butter with pastry blender until mixture
resembles coarse crumbs. Blend in almonds and vanilla. Work mixture
with fingers until a ball of dough is formed. Then shape into 1-inch
balls.
2. Place balls on greased cookie sheets; make a depression in
center of each cookie. Bake about 8 minutes; remove from oven. Dent
again and bake about 8 minutes longer; cool.
3. For frosting, blend 6 tablespoons butter, half-and-half and brown
sugar in saucepan. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly; remove from
heat. Cool about 15 minutes, then stir in confectioners' sugar and
vanilla. Beat until smooth and thick.
4. Fill depressions in cookies with butterscotch frosting and
sprinkle frosting with nuts.
Winner Penney L. Haney of Kenosha described these cookies: "Oh, the
aroma! Dad knew his 'girls' had been baking as soon as he stepped in
the back door, brushing snowflakes from his coat. He warmed his hands
over the hot oven, slowly recovering feeling in his fingertips, numb
from stringing red, yellow, blue, green and white lights in the pines
in the yard. His chore and our special treat combined each year to
mark the beginning of our holiday preparations.
"While chatting to Mom about trying to locate the single,
burned-out bulb that had kept an entire strand out, he watched me,
his tiny daughter, with not so dexterous fingers, shaping dough into
big marbles. I had to kneel on a wooden chair to reach the table,
with Mom's brightly-colored apron wrapped around me nearly twice,
held together in back by a giant safety pin." from the Chicago
Tribune annual Food Guide Holiday Cookie Contest December 4, 1986
Servings: 60 servings
1986 Winner: Almond Thumbprint Cookies Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cookie; Nut
The History of Recipes
It is possible to track the history of `recipes` far back into ancient history, certainly as far back into recorded history as the early Egyptians, and maybe even further. However, sadly, these ancient recipes were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing meals.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe found, according to experts in ancient history is a collection of tablets in Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel exhilarated. As we move on, we have a couple of interesting cookery books published in the 1300s ; a book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, they are not about the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead recipes for the types of meals on the menues of the rich people of the time. During the following few hundred years, the upper-class families of Europe tried to serve up the most extravagent banquests, and as a result cooks and their recipe collections increased in prestige. Even so, it was during the nineteenth century that fine cooking and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, spent years to collecting, testing, and publishing popular recipes of the day. By the advent of the 20th century, cooking books are increasing in popularity as a result of increased literacy, more free time and a general increase in wealth. The revolution that is television brings us celebrity chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the internet revolution, permitting everyone to access massive numbers of recipes such as those found on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this 1986 Winner_ Almond Thumbprint Cookies recipe.
