Name: Brown Sugar Walnut Cookies
Ingredients: 1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature; 1 1/2 cups flour; 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1 cup light brown sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; A pinch of salt; 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

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Butter CookiesCookbook cover image courtesy of Random House

My Nana was quite a baker, as I found out while I was writing Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times. But these simple, delicious cookies became a staple around my house precisely because I'm not a whiz in the kitchen! They're a perfect "basic" cookie—they're easy to make and great with tea at mid-morning or in the afternoon, or as dessert. Around the holidays, they make a lovely, inexpensive gift when you put them in a pretty tin.

Recipe notes

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