Pecan Crescents

My grandmother used to make these cookies for us when we were kids. She lived in Florida and us in Chicago so it was always a big treat when she would visit and make all her different cookies. While this recipe may be in a thousand different cookbooks, this is her version.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of chopped pecans but my frugal grandmother would sometimes substitute walnuts. And sometimes she'd only add 1/2 a cup! But they always turned out good even with her scrimping.

You can choose between butter or margarine, but she preferred margarine because it was softer and easier to cream. For butter make sure it is room temperature before starting.

Somehow my grandmother ALWAYS got exactly 40 cookies out of this recipe. The rest of us get a few more or a few less.

Pecan Crescents
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups flour

Cream butter or margarine. Work in 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar until well blended. Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 cup chopped pecans and 2 cups flour. Refrigerate dough for one hour. Shape small pieces of dough into crescents on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar when removed from oven and again before serving.