Makes 12 or 16 cookies
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons of salted butter, at cool room temperature
- 113 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 240 grams AP flour
- 2 grams salt
Directions
1. Prep
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease the sides of a 9″ round or 8″ square cake pan and line the bottom.
2. Mix
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, then beat in the flour. Beat until a stiff dough forms. If necessary, dribble in up to 1 tablespoon of water to bring the dough together.
Press the dough into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Dock the dough.
3. Bake
Bake the shortbread until it’s a light golden brown across the top surface and a deeper golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes.
Remove the shortbread from the oven and turn it out of the pans and onto a clean work surface.
Immediately cut the shortbread, while it’s warm. For rounds, cut the round into 16 wedges. For squares, cut each square into four smaller squares, then cut each of those into thirds to make a total of 12 strips. Transfer the shortbread wedges or strips to a rack to cool.
Notes:
To make drop cookies: After mixing, drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a lined baking sheet. Flatten each ball of dough to about 3/8″ thick. Bake the cookies for about 25 minutes in a preheated 300° F oven, until they’re set but not really beginning to brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pans or on a rack. Yield: about 4 dozen small (1 3/8″) cookies.