From a college friend at BYU my sophomore year. A Christmas Tradition. I usually triple the recipe.
1/2 C butter
1/4 C brown sugar
1 egg yolk (keep the egg white for the wash)
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 C shifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
Cream butter and brown sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt.
Whisk egg white with a small amount of water. Finely chop pecans. Make small (1″) balls of dough, coat in egg white then roll in the chopped pecans.
Bake 5 min in a 375 degree oven. Remove and place thumb print in each ball, bake an additional 8 Minutes.
Icing:
Butter, powdered sugar and maraschino cherry juice. Place a dab in each thumbprint when cookies are cooled.
Deb Skea's Kitchen 