Butter Cookies

Because a friend recently requested the recipe, and because I've never posted it here, and because they're awesome and I really shouldn't be eating them on my diet, I will now share with you my butter cookie recipe in the hopes that you will indulge for me. They are divine, and sinful, all rolled up into one.

My family got the recipe from a sweet little Danish woman named Katherine Baccigalupe. We must always give her credit for the deliciousness.

Katherine Baccigalupe's Butter Cookies
1 lb. salted butter, softened overnight
2 cups sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour, sifted

Beat butter and sugar together well. Beat in egg and vanilla until mixture lightens in color. Gradually sift in salt and flour (sifting is very important for your dry ingredients for both texture, and to ensure that the dough doesn't clog the cookie press). Mix until well combined. Fill cookie press using rectangle disk (it produces long, thin strips of dough. Usually has one flat side and one ridged side). Press out into long strips on cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 375 degrees or until golden and just starting to brown at edges. Remove from oven and immediately cut at an angle into 2" strips with the edge of a spatula while still on tray. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Bracken likes to melt chocolate, and dip the cookies into the chocolate and then into chopped nuts. I've tried making them in other shapes, and unfortunately, the dough is so buttery that it's difficult to get them to stay on the tray--they tend to get stuck in the press. Plus, the long thin cookies are crisper and tastier.