| 1 | Recipe by: maida heatter"s brand new book of great cookies adjust rack high in oven, about 1/3 to ?down from top. |
| 2 | Preheat oven to 350°F. |
| 3 | Use a flat-sided cookie sheet or any other sheet turned upside down. |
| 4 | Line the sheet with parchment paper or foil, shiny side up. |
| 5 | In small bowl of electric mixer beat butter until soft. |
| 6 | Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts, salt, and sugar. |
| 7 | Then beat in the egg and on low speed, gradually add the flour and beat only until incorporated. |
| 8 | Remove from mixer and with spatula, stir in the nuts. |
| 9 | Work with half the dough at a time. |
| 10 | Place it by heaping tablespoons in a strip about 9" long down the middle of a piece of plastic wrap about 15" long. |
| 11 | Lift the 2 long sides of the wrap and bring them together on top of the strip. |
| 12 | Then, pressing gently on the plastic wrap with your hands, shape the strip into a smooth loaf about 9" long, 2" wide and 1" thick. |
| 13 | Turn upside down and smooth the other side. |
| 14 | Repeat with second half of dough add a second legth of plastic wrap. |
| 15 | Place them in the freezer for only 10 to 12 minutes (no lkonger), just so they will become nonsticky enough to be unwrapped. |
| 16 | Unwrp the packages of dough and place them across the sheet (not lengthwise) with plenty of space in the midle and on the e nds. |
| 17 | These will spread out to 4" or more in width. |
| 18 | Bake for 25 minutes, reversing sheet front to back once during baking. |
| 19 | When done, the tops will be pale with golden spots and the edges will be slightly darker. |
| 20 | Remove from oven and reduce temp to 300°F. |
| 21 | The baked loaves will be fragile. |
| 22 | Carefully slide the parchment off the sheet onto a cutting board. |
| 23 | If the edges are too dark or too uneven, without waiting trim them slightly using a long and sharp knife. |
| 24 | Let the loaves wait 5 minutes before you slice them. |
| 25 | With a long, thin, sharp knife cut the loaves crosswise or on a slight angle into slices ? to 1" wide. |
| 26 | Carefully place the slices on the cookie sheet standing upright. |
| 27 | When oven has reduced temperature to 300°F, bake for 25 more minutes, reversing the sheet front to back once during baking. |
| 28 | When done, the slices should be golden on the tops but only slightly colored on the cut sides. |
| 29 | The end slices and any thinn er slices will take less time. |
| 30 | They should be removed one by one as they are ready. |
| 31 | Place the baked slices on a brown paper bag or on a double thickness of paper towels to cool. |
| 32 | Handle very carefully and store in an airtight container. |
