Vanilla bean shortbread cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


In one bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add your butter and sugar and beat until light in color and fluffy (this is called "creaming").
Scrape down sides of bowl and add in vanilla extract. Mix again until combined.
Next add your flour mix and carefully mix until just combined. Don't overmix it. Dough should stick together when clumped with fingers.
Turn dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, separate into workable sized mounds and wrap tightly- pressing into disks about 1-2" thick. Refrigerate disks until they have firmed up, about an hour.
Line your baking sheets with parchment, wax paper or silpats.

Preheat oven to 325F.
Roll out your disks, one at a time, on a lightly floured surface, until you've reached about 1/4" thick.
Cut out however you desire- cookie cutters, free hand. I cut mine precisely into 1"x2" rectangles.
Place onto sheet pan spaced out about an inch. Place back into the refrigerator to firm up once more, another 25 minutes. You can re-roll scraps and cut out more cookies with those scraps.
Bake until firm, about 15 minutes checking after 12 to make sure they don't get too brown around edges. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe found here.