Susan Branch's Butter Cookies - The Best (really)

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups unsalted butter, softened (kerry irish gold)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350°.
• 2 with an electric mixer (even the hand-held kind), cream together the butter and the sugar.
• 3 add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well.
• 4 sift flour and salt together, shaking back and forth in a fine sieve.
• 5 beat into the butter mixture until well-mixed.
• 6 when ready to bake, use an ungreased cookie sheet and place the cookies 1 inch apart.
• 7 bake for about 10 minutes and do not brown them.
• 8 remove the cookies from the cookie sheet while still warm and cool on sheets of waxed paper.
• 9 decorate if you like:.
• 10 shape dough into a roll the width of a cookie.
• 11 wrap in waved paper and chill.
• 12 before baking, roll in chocolate shots.
• 13 slice 1/2 inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350° for 10 minutes. do not brown.