So Good

These delightful little cookies are sooooo good, maybe just not all that good for you. Well, they'd probably be alright if you just had one or two but... self control has never been big in my world.

There are about a trillion variations of this recipe floating around. In fact, I don't even know where this one came from. It's handwritten, and it's in my writing. This is most likely to mean that I pinched it, ahem I mean was encouraged to copy it, from a friend or family member. I'm sure I remember my Mum making these in the dim distant past so it might have come from her. Wherever they came from, just make them. They aren't a true light and flaky shortbread but they are a very nice buttery cookie that go down a treat with a cuppa, in the lunchbox, or as an after school snack. The recipe makes 50 cookies and they last well. Okay, maybe not it our house but they do keep well in the cookie jar.

A couple of things worth noting - last time I made these I found the mix very crumbly and hard to pull together. This time round I used slightly less flour maybe 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 cups rather than the 2 1/2 listed in the recipe. I found that this worked heaps better and made no difference to the taste. I also found it hard to pull the cookie dough together in one lot so I kneaded it as one lot for a short while then divided it in half and worked each half. If you've got the shoulder strength, go for it. If not, dividing the mix worked a treat.

Refrigerator Cookies

250g butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar mixture

2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Beat butter, sifted icing sugar and vanilla in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Sift flour, in two batches, into butter mixture. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide dough in half; roll each half into a 25cm log. Enclose in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm.

3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to moderate 180C.

4. Cut rolls into 1 cm slices; place on greased oven trays (I used baking paper) 2 cm apart. Bake in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn onto wire racks to cool.