Recipe: Archway Holiday Nougat Cookies and Christmas Nougat Cookies (copycat recipes)

ARCHWAY HOLIDAY NOUGAT COOKIES
Makes about 6 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely chopped nuts (your choice walnuts, pecans or cashews)
Confectioner's sugar

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy; set aside.

Sift flour and salt, add to creamed mixture blending thoroughly. Add nuts and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 325 degrees F about 20 minutes. Do NOT brown! Cool cookies and roll gently in confectioner's sugar.

NOTE:
"For those that haven't heard, Archway Cookies (Mother's, Salerno) have closed there doors and gone out of business. No more Oatmeal Iced Cookies, Those wonderful Pink and White Animal Circus Cookies with sprinkles (been known to find sprinkles on the kitchen floor the next morning..heheh) and The Holiday Nougat cookies-no more..I will miss them. Here is the recipe for The Holiday Nougat Cookie...Enjoy..P.S Better hit your store and stock up on the other favorites before they are gone for good...Sad day." - marky90 / Grouprecipes

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Comment on these cookies said they taste just like the Archway Nougat cookies. The pictures show they are flat cookie instead of a ball.

CHRISTMAS NOUGAT COOKIES (FLAT COOKIES)
Makes 5 1/2 dozen cookies

"The soft dough doesn't need to be refrigerated, and rolls out easily. The cookies do not spread when they are baked, so can be placed closely together on the baking sheet. As a result, they are quick and easy to make." - Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, 12/17/07

1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 cups roasted nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (300F for convection ovens).

In an electric mixer, cream the shortening and powdered sugar, scraping down the sides from time to time. Add the salt and vanilla, and mix thoroughly. Using the mixer's paddle attachment, mix in the chopped nuts. Add the flour, and mix just until it is thoroughly combined with the other ingredients.

On a well-floured surface, with a well-floured rolling pin, roll out the dough 1/4-inch thick. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies and place 1/2-inch apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake 8 minutes, being careful not to let the cookies brown (they should still be white when you remove them from the oven). Transfer to racks and let the cookies cool completely. Store Christmas Nougat Cookies in an airtight container.