G'day. So apparently it was national cookie day yesterday. God bless America ! It's that time of the year, when you start playing Frank Sinatra singing Christmas songs, watch Elf with your kids, and crank out the cookies. Here's my go-to super simple, shortbread style vanilla cookie, that's essentially a blank canvas for however you want to dress them up. The recipe is from Brooklyn's One Girl Cookies Bakery,so it's foolproof and I've been using it for years. You may want to wrap the dough in the saran wrap, and leave it in the fridge for an hour to firm up but if you're feeling impatient, just dive right in and start rolling.

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Ingredients

2 ½ cups (325g)all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½  teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture has begun to lighten in color and texture, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 1 minute.

5. At low speed, add dry mixture to the mixer and mix for 30 seconds. Take the mixing bowl off of the mixer and finish mixing the dough by hand with a rubber spatula.

6. Make small rounds of dough that are about 1½ tablespoons in size. Roll into a ball. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, gently press each ball, leaving an inch between each cookie. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly brown around the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack. Then gobble them up or gift them, your choice!

 photos: Nicole Franzen