1986 Winner: Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

2 c sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1/4 ts salt
1 c butter
3/4 c unblanched almonds
2 1/2 ts vanilla
6 tb butter
5/8 c packed brown sugar
2 c confectioners sugar
1 pistachio nuts for
1 cup butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs
1 balls
6 tablespoons butter

Instructions

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 ----