CUTE AS A BUTTON COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.
• Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
• Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Tip below).
• Roll to desired thickness and cut into small circles. Decorate as buttons.
• Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.
• Tip: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess — Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place some between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer to medium, and beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer to low, and beat in flour and salt until soft dough forms. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and pat each into a disk. Wrap each disk tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of well-floured parchment to 1/8-inch thickness. Transfer to a baking pan, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate, 30 to 60 minutes. Remove and unwrap 2 dough disks. Use a well-floured 3-inch round cutter to cut out 12 cookies. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking pan, spacing cookies about 1 inch apart. To make each resemble a button: Using the blunt side of a 2 3/4-inch round cutter, indent a circle on the cookie's surface. Then, using a straw, poke 2 holes near the center of each cookie. Repeat with 2 remaining dough disks. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, refrigerate pans with cookies until chilled, about 15 minutes. Bake until cookies are golden around edges and firm, about 5 minutes. (If necessary, use a skewer to reopen buttonholes.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. To package, string a ribbon through a stack of 6 button cookies and tie before placing in box. Repeat with remaining cookies to fill 3 more boxes.