This cookie was one that “Mamine”—an affectionate name for Maryse Weil, the matriarch of the Weil family from Besançon—baked as a young girl for family gatherings. Her granddaughter Martine Trèves makes it now in her kitchen. She showed me the recipe from a handwritten book that suggested adding a “grain of salt” to the batter.

　　

Ingredients

about 4 dozen cookies

　　1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter or pareve margarine

　　3/4 cup sugar

　　1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

　　1/4 teaspoon salt

　　1 large egg

　　2 scant cups all-purpose flour

　　1 cup slivered almonds or whole pine nuts

　　

Step 1

Put the butter or margarine and the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer, and cream with the paddle until smooth. Add the vanilla, salt, egg, and flour, continuing to mix until well blended and smooth. Pull the dough away from the paddle, and stir in the almonds or pine nuts. Remove from the mixer, pat together into a round, and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

　　

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

　　

Step 3

Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick, and make 2-inch rounds with a cookie cutter. Transfer to the cookie sheets, and bake for about 20 minutes, turning once.

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