Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Looking for a quick and easy dessert to make for Christmas? Well, look no further! These delicious shortbread cookies are the perfect treat for the holidays and are guaranteed to WOW the guests.

One of the best things about these cookies is that you can get delicious results with few ingredients and tools.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups or 4 sticks of butter
• 1 cup pure sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Tools:

• Mixing bowls and utensils
• Measuring cups
• Baking pan
• Wax paper
• Cookie press

As with all baking, the first step is to prepare the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 4 sticks of butter into a bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds. The goal is to have soft butter, not melted butter. After the butter has been heated, mix the butter with a spoon so that there are no chunks.

Add 1 cup of pure sugar to the butter and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Mix this together. Then, measure out 4 cups of all-purpose flour and add it to the mixture. Mix until all the ingredients are fully combined. The dough may look or feel dry, but this is fine as long as all the ingredients are mixed well.

First, place a piece of wax paper on the baking sheet. Then, prepare the cookie press. The first step to using a cookie press is picking which design you want. Once you have chosen the disk with the desired design, begin by unscrewing the bottom ring of your cookie press. Place the disk into the ring from the inside, then screw the ring back on to the barrel the cookie press. Next, to remove the top part, press down on the grey button, while simultaneously pulling up all the way on the top black plunger. Once this is all the way up, unscrew the top of the cookie press from the barrel. At this point, you can begin loading cookie dough into the barrel of the cookie press using a spoon or your hands. Compress the dough in the cookie press by gently pushing it down as much as you can. Then, screw the top back onto the barrel, and begin pressing the lever up and down a few times until the dough begins to come out of the bottom through the disk.

Using the cookie press and various designs, begin making the cookie shapes. First clean any excess cookie dough at the bottom of the cookie press that has come through the disk. Touch the bottom of the cookie press to the pan and fully press down on the lever once. Release and lift up, and you should have a shaped cookie!

Once you have a full sheet of cookies, place the baking sheet into the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on how you like them. Once they are done, remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.

Once the cookies have cooled, remove them from the baking sheet and place them in a bowl or plate. The last and final step is to simply ENJOY!