MAKES 3–4 DOZEN
½ cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, well beaten
2 cups cake flour, sifted
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup pecans, chopped (or favorite nut meat)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Add egg and incorporate well. In a separate bowl, sift together cake flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, then stir into butter-and-sugar mixture. Stir vanilla and pecans into dough. Knead on lightly floured surface, then form dough into a log, wrap in waxed paper and chill overnight in the refrigerator. Slice into 1/8-inch-thick rounds and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake 10–12 minutes. If baking two sheets at one time, separate sheets on racks spaced well apart, and transfer one cookie sheet from lower rack to the upper rack and the other cookie sheet from upper rack down to lower rack after five minutes, then continue baking.
RUTH POLK, HARTSVILLE