Basic Butter Cookies

By Noni

Total Time: 5 hr 30 min
Prep:15 min|
Inactive Prep:5 hr 0 min|
Cook:15 minLevel:EasyYield:4 dozen

Ingredients

• cookiesIngredients
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

Garnish: coarse or sanding sugar; or melted chocolate (see cook's note, below)
These cookies are absolutely delicious made with regular butter, but they become
downright amazing with Plugra or Land O Lakes Ultra Creamy. Dough log can be
chilled up to 5 days or frozen, wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, 1
month. If frozen, thaw dough in refrigerator just until it can be sliced.
Instead of forming dough into a log and chilling, you can roll tablespoons of
dough into 1 1/4-inch balls, then roll balls in finely chopped nuts (about 1
cup) and coarse sugar. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through
baking, until bottoms are browned, about 15 minutes total. To garnish cookies
with chocolate, melt 3 1/2 ounces chocolate and cool slightly. Transfer to a
heavy-duty sealable plastic bag and snip a 1/16-inch opening in 1 corner. Pipe
chocolate evenly back and forth over cookies. Let chocolate set before storing
cookies. Cookies keep, layered between sheets of waxed paper or parchment, in an
airtight container at room temperature 1 week.