Holiday Nuggets similar to log cookies

Dear Laura: I’m looking for a recipe that came out in the paper I believe in 1958. It was around Christmas time. It was for a log cookie that you rolled into a log, brushed it with egg white and sprinkled with nuts. It held its shape when baked. I’ll be very grateful if you can find it. – Vivian, Spokane

Dear Vivian: I looked in the paper’s Dorothy Dean Homemaker Services archives, where most recipes came from back then, but I was unable to locate a recipe that fits your description exactly. Here are a few recipes, however, that come close. I hope one of them works for you.

Holiday Nuggets

From Dorothy Dean Homemaker December, 1957

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans or blanched almonds)

2 cups flour

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add chopped nuts. Stir in flour. Mix until dough is smooth. Shape into small mounds, balls, logs or crescents; use about a teaspoon of dough for each. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. While cookies are warm, roll in powdered sugar.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Approximate nutrition per cookie: 73 calories, 5.3 grams fat (2.5 grams saturated, 65 percent fat calories), 1.2 grams protein, 5.3 grams carbohydrate, 10 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 39 milligrams sodium.

Choco-Nut Logs

From Dorothy Dean Homemaker Service, circa 1980

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sifted flour

2 cups mini chocolate chips, divided

2 tablespoons shortening

1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla; blend well. Stir in flour and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Chill dough several hours. Roll dough in strips 2 inches long and 1/2 -inch in diameter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until delicately browned. Cool. In top of a double boiler, melt remaining chocolate chips and shortening over hot water, stirring until blended. Dip ends of cookies in chocolate mixture and then roll in nuts.

Yield: About 8 dozen

Approximate nutrition per cookie: 56 calories, 3.5 grams fat (1.6 grams saturated, 56 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 5.9 grams carbohydrate, 6 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 15 milligrams sodium.

Mary’s Nutmeg Logs

From Dorothy Dean Homemaker Services, December 1973

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons rum extract

1 egg

3 cups sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg, plus more for garnish

Butter Frosting

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla and rum extract. Add egg; beat well. Sift flour, salt and nutmeg; stir into creamed mixture. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours. On lightly sugared board roll 1/12 of dough into 18-inch long roll about 1/2 -inch in diameter. Cut into 3-inch logs. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool. Frost with Butter Frosting (recipe follows); stripe with tines of a fork to resemble bark. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Butter Frosting: Combine 5 tablespoons butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 teaspoons rum extract and about 2 tablespoons milk. Beat until spreading consistency.

Yield: About 6 dozen cookies

Approximate nutrition per cookie: 67 calories, 3.5 grams fat (2.1 grams saturated, 47 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 8.5 grams carbohydrate, 12 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 43 milligrams sodium.