Deliciously Addicting Butter Cookies

First of all, don't say I didn't warn you. Since I'm going to share the recipe I can testify that there is no crack/other addicting substance in them, but somehow, once I start eating them I just can't stop. But several other people had the same problem today, so I feel slightly less perturbed about my inability to refrain from eating them.

Anyway, this recipe comes from my grandma's sister Hazel, and is simple but fantastic. It only has six ingredients, so make sure to use the best--I like using organic sugar and unbleached flour and unsalted butter. Martha Stewart tells me that I should use local artisanal brands or quality imported butter, but I don't go quite that far.

My new best friend the kitchen-aid mixer mixed this up in about 4 minutes flat, then the dough has to refrigerate for at least an hour, then you roll it out, cut, and bake. They are quick-baking cookies (only six minutes a pan) so you have to either work fast to have a new pan rolled and cut before the last pan was done, or you're going to have to waste some oven heat. Which, if you live in somewhere other in Tucson, might not be such a big deal; but in my case I semi-frantically rolled and cut and brushed and sprinkled and baked, and got about 80 cookies done in 45 minutes or so, thus avoiding any smidgen of superfluous warmth.

Speaking of brushing and sprinkling--I tried a new method to decorate these, using an egg tempera instead of frosting, and it turned out quite well. But this post will be ridiculously long if I try to talk about both the cookies and the decorating method, so I'll save it for another post.

These cookies are basically a sugar cookie, but a little more buttery and a little less sugary (hence the "butter cookie" name). They're kind of a cross between shortbread and a soft sugar cookie. They melt in your mouth, and on their own aren't too sweet--what makes them sweet is the frosting or sugar that you top with them. I probably wouldn't recommend them plain, unless you're the type who prefers less sweet desserts. I roll them out in various thicknesses depending on my mood. For thin, crisp cookies roll out to a scant 1/8 inch. For thicker, softer cookies, go for closer to 1/4 of an inch.

These butter cookies are also quite possibly the most photogenic cookies ever. Whether they be glazed, frosted, or merely dusted with sugar, they're always cute. I make them seasonally whenever there's a definitive shape (ie snowmen and trees at Christmas, hearts at Valentine's Day, etc) to the holiday or season. This particular batch was a nice assortment of leaves and acorns, perfect for one last autumnal hurrah before the Christmas insanity.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aunt Hazel's Butter Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 unbeaten egg

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter!)

2 2/3 cups flour

plus additional sugar for decorating, if so desired

Sift together the flour and salt, set aside. Cream together the sugar and butter for about three minutes, or until smooth and well-combined. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla. Add the flour/salt combination in half cup increments, beating well after each addition. Once all flour is absorbed, shape the dough into a ball, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick for thinner, crisper cookies, and 1/4 inch thick for thicker, softer cookies. Place cookies one inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, sprinkle with sugar or glaze if desired. Bake for 6-7 minutes, or until just firm. Carefully remove cookies from pan and place on wire racks to cool. (They'll still be a little pale and soft, but they'll harden as they cool, and in my opinion they don't taste as good if you bake them till they're golden-brown).

Alternately you can make drop cookies without refrigerating the dough for as long. After mixing the dough, refrigerate for about ten minutes, then drop by teaspoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a fork dipped in water make a criss-cross pattern on the top of the cookies, flattening them as you do so. Sprinkle with sugar if desired, then bake as directed above.

Let rest on wire racks until completely cool, then frost if desired (and if you didn't previously sugar them). Makes about fifty regular sized cookies, I got eighty using half miniature cutters and half regular cutters. They'll keep for a week, or even ten days, in an air-tight container.

P.S. In the last picture the cookies are on one of a set of pretty nifty glass plates that my grandma got as wedding present fifty-one years and two days ago. Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma!