Walnut Rum Wafers
from http://www.marthastewart.com/

Walnut Rum Wafers

"I love the combination of salty, sweet, and nutty," Anna Kovel says, and this cookie captures the flavors of a walnut tart her mother used to make. Anna hand-chops the nuts and uses dark rum for a festive note. Her perfect pairing? A scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This recipe is unusal in that it uses more walnuts than flour in the dough.

FMM: These are very good cookies. Be sure to chop the 1 1/2 cups walnuts very finely, so that it resembles a meal. You could also try chopping the nuts in a food processor. The kosher salt definitely comes through in these cookies.

2 1/4 cups walnut pieces (7 ounces), toasted (1 1/2 cups finely chopped, 3/4 cuts chopped for topping)
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dark rum
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher salt) - add with flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks in the lower and middle positions. Finely chop 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces.

Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and rum. Stir in flour and salt, scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in finely chopped walnuts.

Drop dough (about 2 teaspoons per cookie) onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for 4 minutes; remove from oven, and top with remaining 3/4 cup walnut pieces [I only used about 1/2 cup]. Rotate sheets, and return to oven. Bake until golden brown around edges, 8 minutes more [I found 5 more minutes perfect].

Transfer cookies with the parchment to wire racks. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. [Remove from parchment to finish cooling.]

Makes about 4 dozen [I got 27 cookies, a little over 2 dozen.]