chef john's rosemary shortbread cookies

Ingredients

• Servings: 32
• 8 ounces cold, unsalted butter, cut into thin slices
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (not minced)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• white sugar, or as desired

Recipe

Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 50 mins Ready Time: 1 hr 15 mins


• preheat oven to 300 degrees f (150 degrees c). line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• place cold butter, sugar, rosemary, salt, and vanilla extract in bowl. combine with the back of a spatula or spoon, slowly incorporating ingredients together until butter has softened somewhat and ingredients come together.
• pour flour into bowl with butter mixture. flour your hands to then incorporate flour into the butter, using fingertips and rubbing mixture together until flour-y crumbs become buttery crumbs, 1 to 2 minutes. press mixture together into a dough ball.
• transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. press dough into a disk, then into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. cover with a piece of plastic wrap. flatten dough to 1/4-inch thick using a flat pan or rolling pin. reshape into a rectangle.
• cut dough lengthwise into 5 even strips about 1 inch wide, trimming extra dough if necessary. cut each strip into 6 evenly sized squares. (you can roll out scraps to form more cookies if necessary). transfer cookies to prepared baking sheet. sprinkle each cookie with about a pinch of sugar. using a fork, poke 4 rows of holes into each cookie.
• bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 50 minutes.
• cool cookies 10 minutes on sheet; transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.