Greek Butter Cookies
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Sampling these Greek Butter Cookies is like eating fine butter pastry. They are so buttery that they almost melt in your mouth! Flavored with ground walnuts and just a hint of clove, they are the perfect addition to your cookie platter.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
32 whole cloves
Confectioners' sugarPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Put butter, granulated sugar, egg yolks and the vanilla and almond extracts into the large bowl of an electric mixer. Beat, with mixer set at medium speed, until mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.
Remove bowl from mixer; scrape butter mixture from beaters and return to bowl. Add flour and nuts to butter mixture all at once and mix, using your hands if necessary, until no traces of the flour remain.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board or pastry cloth; divide dough in half. With your hands, shape each half into a roll that is 16 inches long. Cut each roll into 16 (1-inch) pieces and then shape each pieces into a ball.
Press a whole clove into each dough ball so that the end of the clove is visible. Place balls, clove side up, 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Place on center rack in oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are set but not browned.
When cookies are done, transfer them to a wire rack. Sprinkle them lightly with confectioners' sugar while they are still warm. Let cool completely on the wire rack. Repeat until all the cookies have been baked and cooled.
Just before serving, sprinkle the Greek Butter Cookies with more confectioners' sugar so that they are well coated. (If desired, store cookies in a well-sealed tin box for up to 1 week.)
Makes 32 cookies