Rolled Sugar Cookies

Contributed by fullybaked

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 C AP Flour
• 1/4 t Salt
• 3/4 C Sugar
• 12 T Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 Lg Egg
• 1 t Vanilla Extract Mix
• flour and salt

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add egg and vanilla, beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture.
3. Form into a flat disc and chill for about two hours.
4. Roll out about 1/8-inch thick, cut and bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.

Vanilla Malted Cookies

Vanilla Malted Cookies (makes about 6 1/2 dozen)
Contributed by Heidi Lynn

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plain malted-milk powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reserved
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together flour, malted-milk powder, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Mix in sugar and vanilla seeds (reserve pod for another use.) Add egg and vanilla extract and combine. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined.
3. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (such as Ateco #825.) Pipe 2 1/2-inch long strips onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake until bottom edges are golden brown, 11 to 15 minutes. Let cool. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 1 week.

Rolled Butter Cookies

Contributed by Meera Hyphenated

Ingredients:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup superfine sugar, or granulated sugar processed in a food processor for 30 seconds
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface

1. Either by hand or with electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Add yolk, beat well, then add whole egg and vanilla; continue beating until will incorporated. Add flour; beat at low speed until flour is just mixed in. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. (Can be refrigerated up to 2 days or double-wrapped and frozen 1 month.)
2. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 365°F. Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and cut in half. Return unused portion of dough to refrigerator.
3. Lightly flour work surface; roll dough to 1/8-in. thick, using thin metal spatula to loosen dough. Sprinkle surface lightly with flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
4. Cut or form dough into desired shape. Place dough shapes ½-inch apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake, reversing cookie sheets (from top to bottom and back to front) halfway through baking time, until evenly golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
5. Use thin-bladed spatula to immediately transfer cookies to cooling rack. Cool to room temperature. Repeat rolling, cutting, and baking remaining dough. Decorate cooled cookies, if desired, and transfer to airtight container. Can be stored up to 3 weeks.