Recipe: Thomas Keller's Shortbread Cookies

I was hungry and I just got finished with a ridiculous AP Calculus test, so I decided to bake.

This is the recipe for vanilla shortbread cookies from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc cookbook

The Result: Extremely rich and smooth textured cookies. Coming right out of the oven, the cookies were the epitomy of soft chewy shortbread. The use of vanilla extract and vanilla paste was nice. Coating them with sugar added a textural element that elevated the flavor of the cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

14 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp.

1/2 cup granulated sugar, extra for sprinkling

1 teaspoon vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract

2 cups flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a metal bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, mix the butter and sugar on low speed to combine, then increase to medium speed and beat for about 3 minutes until light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix the vanilla. On the lowest speed, mix in the flour to combine, then increase the speed to medium and beat until the dough begins to cling to the paddle and no longer looks dry. Do not wait for it to form a solid mass. Honestly, if you don't have a mixer, just use your hands to mix and knead. Its the old fashion way. Just make sure they're very clean.

Transfer the dough to a board and use the heel of your hand or a pastry scraper to bring the dough together. Put dough on a large piece of plastic wrap and pat it into a rectangle 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to about centimeter thick. Remove top sheet of marchment paper and reserve. Cut cookies into 2 inch squares.

Place cookies onto baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Make sure cookies are 1 inch apart.

Bake for about 12 minutes. Then rotate baking sheet 180 degrees and bake for additional 10 minutes until a light gold brown color. Remove from oven and rest for 3 minutes.

*The best time to eat these nom noms is fresh out of the oven. They're soft and delicious, and they go well with a nice cup of chamomile or earl grey tea. Leave them overnight, and they'll get hard. They'll taste good, but not even close to as good as when they're fresh out of the oven.