The tradition of making homemade treats for gifts is still alive and well in the South. In the early to mid-1990s, I worked on videos and photo shoots in Nashville with a girl named Maria Smoot. She is responsible for some of the most beautiful hair-styles in country music. I found a tin of these cookies in my mailbox one Christmas with a sweet note from Maria. What was even sweeter was that she included the recipe.

　　

Ingredients

makes 2 dozen

　　1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature

　　1 cup confectioners’ sugar

　　1/8 teaspoon salt

　　2 teaspoons vanilla extract

　　2 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

　　1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

　　

Step 2

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the salt, and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, and then stir in the pecans by hand.

　　

Step 3

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball slightly and form into a half-moon crescent. Arrange the shaped cookies 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned but the tops are still pale. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

　　

Step 4

Put the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll the cooled cookies in the sugar, coating liberally. Store in an airtight container.

　　

From Gwen

Step 5

You may know these as Wedding Cookies or Melting Moments.

　　Reprinted with permission from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Trisha Yearwood with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Copyright © 2008 by Trisha Yearwood. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Trisha Yearwood is a three-time Grammy-award winning country music star and the author of the bestselling cookbook Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. She is married to megastar Garth Brooks.