Shortbread Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar plus extra for sprinkling on each cookie
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar.
3. Add the vanilla extract to the butter and sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and salt.
5. Add the sifted ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture.
6. On low speed, mix all ingredients until the dough begins to come together.
7. Dust a flat surface with flour and dump out the dough.
8. Begin rolling dough out until flat.
9. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
10. Remove from refrigerator and roll out dough until it is 1/2 inch thick.
11. At this point, you can cut the dough into any shape you want.
12. Place cut-out cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle each with sugar.
13. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
14. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Variations on Basic Shortbread

• Instead of sprinkling with granulated white sugar, use powdered sugar to dust each cookie.
• Add ingredients such as chopped pecans to the batter for a pecan shortbread cookie or orange zest for an orange flavored shortbread.
• Other extracts instead of vanilla can be substituted for a different taste. Try lemon or almond extract in your next batch of cookies.
• For a special touch, try using a jam or colorful icing to decorate the top of each cookie.