Butter Cookies

These butter cookies were made only for the reason that I was trying to find a nice plain sort of cookie that I could fill with some leftover ganche that I have stored in the fridge. I have some wonderful shortbread recipes that I have made with much success before but I wanted to try something new. But now I wish I would have just stuck with one of my previous recipes. I was not impressed with this butter cookie recipe at all. I found it on the Food Network website and it was party of "The Neelys" show. I have not watched the Food Network much lately so I'm not sure who the Neelys are but this recipe sure received good reviews. It's not a horrible recipe. It's just very....blah. Instead of rolling out the dough, I chose to pipe it. That part was very quick and easy. They baked nicely and evenly and looked delicious. They obviously have a very buttery flavor but also a nice touch of vanilla. After they cooled, they had a slight crunch to them. After they sat in a tupperware container overnight, they are now soft. The recipe calls for cinnamon but I chose to leave that out because I do not like the combination of cinnamon and chocolate. I only filled a few of the cookies with chocolate because I did not want to waste my ganache on these cookies. They are only OK....I guess they will end up in the office lunchroom. Sigh.

Shelbi's Butter Cookies

Recipe courtesy The Neelys

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sifted sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Sift together flour and salt into a bowl.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the butter and mix on medium-high until fluffy and light. Add the sugar and the eggs, 1 at a time, until and mix until combined. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour to the butter, sugar, egg mixture. Mix until batter looks smooth. Place dough onto a flowered cutting board and cut the dough into quarters, flatten and wrap with the plastic. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With a rolling pin covered in flour, roll out dough quarters 1 at a time, on a floured work surface to 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick. Use a variety of cutters to cut out cookies. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment and space cookies about 1 1/2-inches apart.

Bake cookies until they are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Using a using a spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.