Hearst Castle Shortbread Cookies

Name: Hearst Castle Shortbread Cookies
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 1 h 7 min
Yield: 3-4 dozen, 1 serving(s)
Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, fine grain; 1 lb unsalted butter; 1 cup powdered sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 vanilla bean (optional)

Submitted by seahorse73

"This is a shortbread inspired by the version published in The Castle Cookbook by Marjorie Collard and Ann Marie Lopez. I added a few of my own touches and elaborated on the instructions - the end result is a perfectly light and buttery shortbread cookie with just the right amount of sweetness. Recipe Courtesy of: Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks"

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Ready In:: 1hr 7mins
Ingredients:: 7
Yields:: 3-4 dozen
Serves:: 1

ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour
¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking powder
³⁄₄ teaspoon sea salt, fine grain
1 lb unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean (optional)

directions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a mixing bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat again, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl once or twice as you are mixing. Beat in the vanilla extract. If you have a vanilla bean slit it open along its entire length, scrape out the vanilla bean paste from the interior of the bean, and add this to the mixer as well. Add the flour mixture in two additions. Stir until everything comes together into a thick dough.
Turn the dough out onto a countertop and divide into two pieces, there is quite a bit of dough, so cutting it into two pieces just makes it easier to roll out later on. Press each piece of dough out into a flat patty an inch thick. Wrap each piece in plastic and chill completely in the refrigerator - about thirty minutes. When the dough is chilled, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out 1/4-1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough into desired shapes using cookie cutters or a knife and place on a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are barely golden.
Makes 3 or 4 dozen tiny cookies - more or less depending on the size of your cutters.

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Reviews

This recipe was posted by Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks, and the comments and adaptations are hers. I just thought this should be noted.

hannahactually