rosemary butter cookies

It's likely that we'll be moving within the next 6 months to a year and I've decided that my several years' worth of Martha Stewart magazines is baggage that doesn't need to move with me again. I've been going through them ripping out some of my favorite crafts and recipes. When this one caught my eye last night I said to myself, "Hmmm, I have about 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary that needs to be used up soon. Why not?" I can't find this exact recipe online. I think it might actually have come from one of the Weddings magazines.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup fine sanding sugar

1. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add flour, rosemary, and salt; mix on low speed until incorporated.

2. Divide dough in half; shape each piece into a log. Place each log on a 12-by-16-inch sheet of parchment. Roll in parchment to 1-1/2 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log and force out air. Transfer to paper-towel tubes. Freeze 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll logs in sanding sugar; slice 1/4 inch thick. Arrange 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.

Makes about 5 dozen.

I used Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose Baking Flour. And I'm never certain when I should be sifting before measuring and when I should be sifting after. I chose after. And I used a Martha trick of stirring it with a whisk rather than pushing it through a sifter. In place of sanding sugar, which sounds very fancy-shmancy, I found that the Trader Joe's Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar is fine enough for the job.

My cookies don't look as pretty as Martha's. I didn't understand the instructions about the ruler, and looking at the accompanying picture in the magazine didn't help to explain it at all. So they're sort of squiggly around the edges rather than smoothly round. Also, the first batch is a little over-done. I think I sliced them too thin. They're dry, but in a yummy shortbread kind of way.

The taste is buttery delicious! And the rosemary makes them seem so classy, like they should be served with high tea. File under "in case the queen comes to lunch."