Butter Cookies

By awright0511

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup superfirne sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, blend butter, sugar and vanilla extract until just combined. This time, you don’t want it to be light & fluffy. You want it flat. Add the dry ingredients until just combined. Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap it up. Place it in the refrigerator and cool for at least 1 hour until firm.

3. When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

4. Let the dough sit out on the counter, still covered, for about 15 minutes until it softens slightly. Then place 1/4 of the dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap and roll out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. This next step is important: Release the dough from both sides of the plastic wrap by pulling off the top layer of plastic first, then replacing it. Now flip the dough over and remove the other layer of plastic wrap. Use cookie cutters in whatever shape you like, cutting as close together as possible. NOW, if the dough is really soft, without pulling off the scraps in between the shapes, cover with the top plastic wrap again and place the dough gently in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up.

5. Remove dough from the freezer, pull off the scraps, gently remove the shapes, place on greased cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, until the edges are golden. You want the dough to be cold when it goes into the oven or it will spread too much. If necessary, place cookie sheets with dough on them in the freezer for a few mintues before baking.

6. Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheets for 5-10 minutes before transfering to wire racks to cool completely.