1990 1st place: nut crescents

2 c  Unsalted softened butter or
           -margarine
      6 tb Confectioners' sugar
      2    Egg yolks
      4 c  flour, sifted before
           Measuring
      1 c  Ground or finely crushed
           Almonds, pecans or walnuts
           Mmmmm---------------
           ------------topping---- -- €
           ---------------------------
      2    Egg whites
      1 c  Ground or finely crushed
           Almonds, pecans or walnuts
    1/2 c  Granulated sugar
           Confectioners' sugar for
           Sprinkling
 

  
     1. Cream butter and confectioners' sugar in large mixer bowl until
    light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Beat in flour and 1 c ground
    nuts until mixed. (Dough can be refrigerated up to several days;
    soften slightly before shaping cookies.)
  
     2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
  
      3. For topping, beat egg whites lightly with fork in shallow dish
    until frothy. Mix 1 cup nuts and granulated sugar in separate shallow
    dish.
  
     4. Roll a generous teaspoon of the dough in the palm of your hands
    into a crescent shape. Dip top of crescent in egg white and then into
    nut-sugar mixture. Place crescents on baking sheets about 1 inch
    apart. Bake until bottoms are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on pan a
    few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle
    lightly with confectioners' sugar before serving.
  
     This winning recipe is from Mila Tomisek of Chicago. She prefers to
    use unsalted butter, but says margarine can be substituted. The
    cookies are very fragile.   Mila first began baking these small,
    buttery, crescent-shaped cookies with her grandmother during World
    War I; today, at 82, she still bakes them for her children and
    grandchildren. from the Chicago Tribune third annual Food Guide
    Holiday Cookie Contest December 13, 1990
 
-----