"It's Like Buttah" Cookies

 Before I could read, I would sometimes try to figure out recipes from the pictures in my children's cookbook. This almost always resulted in yucky-tasting gobs of gook. I would invariably leave the sugar out of cake recipes. I remember even trying to mix it in after the layers were in the oven! But hey, I was four. When I finally learned how to actually read recipes, it helped me cook a lot better.
So, this was the first recipe I ever read. These thumb-print cookies were from a North Carolina Junior League Cookbook, circa 1948 or so. The reason these cookies are photographed on newsprint was that that's what Mom used to cool them on. And so did we...

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1 C flour
1 egg yolk (separated)
1 t real vanilla
1 good pinch salt

Directions:

Soften butter to room temperature and mix other ingredients thoroughly into butter, use hands if necessary. Pinch off small pieces of mixture and roll into balls the size of large marbles or walnuts. For best results, chill for an hour minimum. Then place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Make a small depression in each with a thumb and put about 1/4 t. jam in the middle. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Watch them and take them out when they just start to brown on the edges. Yield:24

Note: You can put them in the oven without chilling--they'll just spread out a whole lot more and not look as pretty. But who cares if you're hungry and just home from school!