McCalls Cooking School

• 1 cup butter
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 ½ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
• 32 whole cloves
• Confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Into the large bowl of an electric mixer, place butter, granulated sugar, egg yolks and the vanilla and almond extracts. With mixer set at medium speed, beat until the butter mixture is smooth, light and fluffy.

Remove the bowl from mixer; scrape butter mixture from beaters into the bowl. Add flour and nuts to butter mixture all at once and mix, using your hands, until no traces of the flour remain.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured pastry cloth or board; divide dough in half. Using your hands, shape each half into a roll 16 inches long. Cut each roll in 16 (1-inch) pieces; shape each piece into a ball.

Press a whole clove into each ball so that the top of the clove is visible (as they will have to be removed before eating). Place balls clove side up 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet. Place on center rack in oven and bake until cookies are set but not browned, about 20 minutes.

When the cookies are set, transfer them to a wire rack. Sprinkle the cookies lightly with confectioners’ sugar while they are still warm. Let cool completely on the wire rack. Repeat until all the cookies have been baked, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar 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 an airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Makes 32 cookies.

Please note that cloves are not edible; they must be removed before eating cookie.