Rosemary Butter Cookies

Recently, I have been eating a lot of shortbread cookies with my tea or coffee. I love their crumbly, buttery sweet flavor. I decided I should probably try to make my own, which reminded me of these rosemary butter cookies a friend had made around the holidays. They are the perfect combination of sweet and savory. These cookies are a Martha Stewart recipe, which coincidentally for Christmas I had received the Martha Stewart's Cookies book which had the recipe inside. This weekend, I finally took the time to make them, and it is really hard to stop eating them. Literally, I had ten while I was waiting for the next batch to come out of the oven. Although, my cookies didn't turn out as picture-perfect as Martha's, the flavor was not diminished. Click here for original recipe.


Here is the recipe for Martha Stewart's Rosemary Butter Cookies (makes about 5 dozen):
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 large egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
-3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
-1/2 cup sanding sugar

To begin, cream butter and granulated sugar on medium high until soft and fluffy. Add 1 egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined.
Finely chop rosemary, then add to butter and sugar mixture, along with flour and salt. Mix until well combined.
Cut a sheet of parchment paper about 12 x 16 inches. Place half the dough parallel to the 12 inch side of the paper and begin to roll into a 1 1/2 inch log. Honestly, I thought my dough was too soft for this and felt like I had measured the ingredients incorrectly, but they still turned out fine. Place the log in a paper towel tube (it would be better to have just the tube, but I had the paper towels to go along with mine) and put in the freezer to firm up for at least an hour. I did mine overnight. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take out rolled dough from the freezer and unroll. Brush with beaten egg white and roll in sanding sugar until well coated.
Use serrated knife and cut 1/4 inch circles, or cut at a diagonal to create an oval shaped cookie (like I did). Place 1 inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheet and place in oven for about 8-15 minutes - depending one how thin you really cut them (Martha's recipe calls for 18-20 minutes, but that was way too long for me). If your dough becomes too soft while you are slicing, but pop in back in the freezer to firm up.
Let cool on wire sheets and store in an airtight container up to 3 days. I put mine in the fridge so they last longer. Enjoy the sweet and savory cookie with tea or just by itself.