Distraction

I don't know about you, but I find baking and decorating cookies a helpful distraction when life does annoying things I can't do anything about.

These are destined for the library on Thursday.

I take my role as, "the Cookie Lady" pretty seriously. You could be called much worse than , "the Cookie Lady", and believe me, I have been...but not at the library. That my friends is the power of butter and sugar.

 I try to keep dough on hand in the fridge or freezer for days like today, when the only sensible thing to do is roll, cut, bake, and decorate. Before I knew it, the morning was gone, and I had accomplished something.

Here's how to scare up some biscuits (right, I'll be getting my hat, and leaving now)

You Will Need:

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (or any flavor you prefer)
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in egg until everything is light. Stir in extract. Sift flour with baking powder, and add to the butter mixture. Mix well. Divide into two, roll into logs (or disks, depending how you bake) and wrap in cling film. Store in fridge until ready to use.

To Bake:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Do not grease baking sheets. For slice and bake butter cookies, go as thin as 1/8 inch. Arrange on sheets (they don't spread much) and bake until golden at the edges, 8-10 minutes depending on size, thickness, etc. Cool 1 minute on pan, then carefully remove with a very thin spatula. Some will break, that's the nature of these cookies.

When cool, decorate as desired.