lovin me some shortbread.

I love shortbread cookies...as my jean size can attest. These are super simple -the rolling out part is kind of a pain, but the end result makes all the flour and rolling worth it.

NEEDS: 

1 & 1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 & 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

2 & 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Granulated sugar for decorating, I also put on a dash of cinnamon.

Beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour until well blended. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk and wrap each of them in plastic wrap. Refigerate for about 2 hours. Preheat your oven to 325 degress. On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll half of the dough to 1/4 inch think. Cut with desired cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar (cinnamon if you want). Bake 9-10 minutes until they look yummy and desireable. Once the cookies are out of the oven, lift the edges with a fork and transfer them to a cooling rack. * As you roll them out, gather scraps and roll out again. If the dough becomes too soft, re-wrap it in plastic wrap and put back in the fridge. Yield 4 dozen. (just a note- I only got about 3 dozen. I made a 3 inch circle cookies...so plan on getting less that what the recipe says. Someone is a math major like me.)

I didn't have a cute plate to take to my brothers dinner party- so I grabbed a rubbermaid container and wrapped it in a brown paper bag. Tied it off with a bow and off we went. Later we took the remaining cookies on a walk and delivered them to neighbors- in style.