We took these cookies into work the other day. When we noticed the majority of these easy butter cookies disappeared before noon, we knew we had a success on our hands. The butter cookies themselves are fairly light and delicate (yes, even with all that butter) – they’re similar to a shortbread cookie and go well with a hot cup of tea or coffee. The recipe could not be easier. Pile everything into a food processor and pulse until just blended. Mold into a disc, wrap and chill. Chilling makes the dough a little easier to roll out. When chilled, roll out and cut into shapes or form into a log and cut into discs. Easy! One note, this recipe does have a lot of butter, so the cookies will spread a little while they bake. Because of this, we don’t recommend using intricate cookie cutter shapes with this recipe. To make the cookies look like buttons, lightly press a shot glass into the cookie dough then poke 4 holes with a wooden skewer into the middle. We add a fun button design to the cookies. If you are not into adding the button design, you could roll the dough into a log and slice into cookie dough rounds or even make your own design/shapes. This recipe does have a lot of butter, so the cookies will spread a little while they bake. Because of this, we don’t recommend using intricate cookie cutter shapes with this recipe. 16 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, sliced (2 sticks) 1 large egg 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for tops 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon orange zest 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or substitute vanilla extract 2(If you plan to make slice and bake cookies, shape the dough into two 8-inch logs instead). 2Lightly flour a clean work surface, remove one disk of dough from the fridge. Roll out to about 1/3-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. If you formed the dough into logs instead of disks, simply slice them into 1/3-inch thick slices. 3Arrange the cookies on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1/2-inch apart. Bake until the edges start to turn a very light brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pans until set, about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
