Vanilla butter rounds

It’s been such a while since I last posted cookies I almost did not recognize my own blog – Technicolor Kitchen without cookie recipes is like a Tim Burton movie without Johnny Depp. :D

These are deadly simple to make and, aside from the nuts, only simple ingredients are involved – I’m sure there’s a little butter and a couple of eggs in your fridge.

Vanilla butter rounds
slightly adapted from Big Fat Cookies

2 ¾ cups (385g) flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (340g/3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar – I used vanilla infused sugar
3 large egg yolks
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
18 whole unblanched (with skins) almonds or pecan halves

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large howl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. The dough will be soft and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is cold and firm enough to roll into balls with your hands without sticking, about 1 hour.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 165ºC/325ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup with a ¼-cup capacity, scoop out mounds of dough. Roll each mound between the palms of your hands into a smooth ball, flatten it into a 7.5cm (3-in) circle, and place the cookies 5cm (2 in) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press a nut into the center of each cookie.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are light brown, about 22 minutes – mine needed 30.
Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes 18 cookies - I halved the recipe, shaped 5cm (2in) cookies using 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and got 18