Recipes Desserts Cookies Shortbread Cookies Buttery Vanilla Shortbread 5.0 (2,369) 4 Reviews More Cookie Recipes By Gail Simmons Gail Simmons Gail Simmons is a trained culinary expert, food writer, and dynamic television personality. Since the show's inception in 2006, she has lent her expertise as a permanent judge on BRAVO's Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series Top Chef, now in its 19th successful season. She is a co-host of The Good Dish, the new daily syndicated series offering delicious recipes, real-life wisdom, and conversations on the topics of the day, and most recently was host of Top Chef Amateurs, as well as IronChef Canada. From 2004 to 2019, Gail served as the special projects director at Food & Wine. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 29, 2018 Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: © Lucy Schaeffer Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 45 mins Yield: 24 shortbread cookies Ingredients 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar Pinch of salt 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Directions Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse until evenly moistened. Turn the crumbs out onto a large piece of parchment paper and press into a disk. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and roll out the dough to a rough 8-by-11-inch rectangle. Discard the top sheet of parchment. Trim the edges to form a 7-by-10-inch rectangle. Slide the dough along with the parchment onto a large baking sheet. Using a straight edge and a sharp knife, score the dough into 24 bars. Poke the dough all over with a fork and freeze until firm, about 10 minutes. Bake the dough until golden, about 25 minutes. While the shortbread is still warm, cut it into bars. Let cool before serving. Make Ahead The shortbread can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Serve With Tangy Lemon Parfaits with Tart Cherries. Originally appeared: January 2010 Rate It Print