Barefoot Contessa's Shortbread Hearts - Ina Garten

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb unsalted butter, room temperature (3 sticks)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (i use 2 tsp vanilla bean paste)
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 350°f.
• 2 in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment (i use a standard kitchen aid hand mixer with regular blades), cream together the butter and 1 cup of the sugar until they are just combined.
• 3 add the vanilla.
• 4 in a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt; then add them to the butter and sugar mixture.
• 5 mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.
• 6 wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
• 7 roll dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3-inch heart-shaped cutter (i roll the dough between two sheets of flour-dusted waxed paper -- no sticking!).
• 8 place the hearts on an ungreased sheet pan and sprinkle with sugar (i line the baking sheets with parchment paper).
• 9 bake for 20 to 25 minutes (time will vary based on the size/shape/thickness of your cookie dough), until the edges begin to brown.
• 10 allow to cool to room temperature.
• 11 leave plain or dip in or paint with melted chocolate or royal icing.
• 12 a note from ina: the edges of the shortbread are ever so slightly sharper if you chill the cookies before baking them. i cut out the cookies days ahead and bake them the day i serve them.
• 13 for me, i loosely wrap each baked cookie in bakery-type waxed 'tissue' paper and store them in the fridge in a tightly sealed tupperware-type container -- they will keep for weeks this way and still taste great!