1 stick or ½cupUnsalted buttersoften to room temperature
¼cupPowdered sugar (Confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar)
½teaspoonPure vanilla extract
For chocolate dipping:
2 oz or ¼cupChocolate chips
Instructions
making shortbread or vanilla cookie dough:
Take all purpose flour and salt in a bowl. Mix well and keep it aside.
Take soften butter in another bowl, beat it with electric mixer or with wire whisk by hand till it gets creamy and smooth.
Add powdered sugar. Beat it again till it becomes smooth.
Add vanilla extract and mix.
Add flour. Mix it just till it gets incorporated.
Flatten the dough into a disk. Wrap it with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or till firm. If in hurry put it in the freezer.
Once chilled, put the dough between parchment papers or wax papers. Instead you can roll on floured surface.
Gently roll it into ¼ inch thick circle.
If dough becomes soft, again pop it into the freeze for 10 minutes to chill. I put the rolled circle in a cookie sheet and chilled.
After it chills, cut into circle or heart or any other shape.
Arrange the cookies into parchment paper or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Again chill it in the freezer till oven is preheated.
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F or 165 degrees C for at least 10 minutes.
Bake cookies into pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes.
Let the cookies cool in the sheet for 10 minutes.
Then remove it to wire rack to cool completely.
Once it cools completely, you can dip them in chocolate. It is optional though.
Dipping into the chocolate:
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate. Or use double boiler method to melt the chocolate.
Dip the cookies into melted chocolate.
Arrange them into cookie sheet. Keep in refrigerator for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate and then serve.
While dipping cookies if melted chocolate hardens then again microwave it for few seconds.