Vanilla Sugar Cookies

There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked cookies during the holidays! Elevate your holiday baking with real vanilla beans. These vanilla bean sugar cookies are heavenly!

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 8 ounces of unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 grade A vanilla beans

Instructions

• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl each time
• Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the bowl along with the vanilla extract.
• Add flour mixture and mix at low speed until dough just comes together.
• Knead a couple of times just until smooth, then pat into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill until firm enough to roll.
• Roll and cut as desired and place on parchment-lined sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

Recipe makes 4 dozen cookies.