Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

square shortbread cookies on a white plate with a blue tea pot and white tea cups

Course Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword shortbread-cookies-recipe, shortbread-recipes, vanilla-shortbread-cookies

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 18

Cooling time 1

Total Time 1 28

Servings cookies

Calories 216kcal

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter softened
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp sugar in the raw or coarse sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes, or until fluffy.
Lower speed of mixer adding flour 1/2 cup at a time. Beat on medium speed until fully combined and a soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto plastic wrap. Knead gently just until smooth. Form into a disc and chill for 30 minutes.
On a non stick surface roll dough into roughly an 8 x 8 square, 1/3-1/2 inch thick. (Lay a piece of wax paper on top to prevent it sticking to the rolling pin, if needed.)
Cut into 2 inch squares. Place onto pan, at least 1 inch apart. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar. (You can also cut into 2 x 1 inch rectangles or use cookie cutters to make into any shape you wish.)
Bake for 22-25 minutes until the bottoms are very lightly golden. Cool on the pan for a few minutes then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

The baking time for these cookies is based on chilled dough cut 1/3-1/2 inch thick. If the cookies are rolled thinner, the baking time may need to be reduced.

Nutrition