Classic French butter cookies made with a shortbread-type of dough and salted butter.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 200 g cultured butter
- 3 egg yolks separated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy – about 1 minute.
- Add 2 egg yolks and the vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until they’re incorporated. Stop to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula before resuming the mixing. Add the flour in and mix on low speed just until the dough starts to clump together.
- Lightly flour a wooden board or counter before placing the mass of dough onto it. Use your hands to shape the dough into a big ball. Then sprinkle some flour on top of the dough before using a rolling pin to roll the dough out. As soon as the dough starts sticking to your pin, sprinkle a pinch of flour on the dough, then resume rolling. Roll your dough out until it’s approximately 1/4″ thick.
- Use medium round cookie cutters (2.25″/5.75 cm) to cut out round cookies from the dough. Use a sharp-edged spatula to transfer the cookie rounds onto the baking sheet. Place 12 cookies on the baking sheet, spaced out from each other. Beat the remaining yolk in a small bowl. Use a fork to make a cross-hatch pattern on the cookies (drag the fork down vertically on the cookie, then drag the fork across horizontally). Brush the tops of the cookies with the beaten egg yolk.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they’re a deep golden color. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.