Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (I use a standard Kitchen Aid hand mixer with regular blades), cream together the Butter and 1 Cup of the Sugar until they are just combined.
- Add the Vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the Flour and Salt; then add them to the Butter and Sugar mixture.
- Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.
- Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3-inch heart-shaped cutter (I roll the dough between two sheets of flour-dusted waxed paper -- no sticking!).
- Place the hearts on an ungreased sheet pan and sprinkle with sugar (I line the baking sheets with parchment paper).
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (time will vary based on the size/shape/thickness of your cookie dough), until the edges begin to brown.
- Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Leave plain or dip in or paint with melted chocolate or Royal Icing.
- A NOTE FROM INA: The edges of the shortbread are ever so slightly sharper if you chill the cookies before baking them. I cut out the cookies days ahead and bake them the day I serve them.
- For me, I loosely wrap each baked cookie in bakery-type waxed 'tissue' paper and store them in the fridge in a tightly sealed Tupperware-type container -- they will keep for weeks this way and still taste great!