LEMON BUTTER COOKIES

Lemon Butter Cookies image

Yield Makes about 36

Number Of Ingredients 8

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
2 cups all purpose flour
Powdered sugar

Steps:

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until light. Beat in sugar and lemon peel. Add egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and salt. Beat mixture until well blended. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out 1 dough disk on well-floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies using 2 1/2- to 2 3/4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Gather scraps, reroll and cut out additional cookies. Transfer cookies to 2 ungreased baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Bake cookies until golden brown around edges, about 8 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack; cool 30 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over cookies. Repeat with remaining dough disk. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)