Annie Hall’s Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer (even the hand-held
kind), cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix
well. Sift flour and salt together and beat into butter mixture until well
mixed. When ready to bake use an ungreased cookie sheet and place cookies 1
inch apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, but do not brown them. Remove
cookies from cookie sheet while still warm and cool on sheets of waxed
paper. Decorate, if you like. Makes 6 to 8 dozen. Taste fabulous!

Shapes:

Candy Canes: Divide 3 cups of dough in half. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons red food
coloring to one half. Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll a 4 inch
strip of each color (no fatter than a pencil). Place the two colored rolls
side-by-side and press lightly together. Gently twist like a rope and place
on ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Curve the top like a candy cane and
bake about 10 minutes; do not brown. You can sprinkle with crushed
peppermint candy.

Rolled Cookies: Shape dough into rolls with width of a cookie. Wrap in
waxed paper and chill. Before baking, roll in chocolate shots. Slice 1/2
inch thick and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10
minutes; do no brown.

Stars, Hearts, Circles and Jelly-Filled: Fill a pastry bag with unchilled
dough and put through a ‘star tip’ (sizes 2 and 7 – 9). Squeeze onto cookie
sheet into the shapes you like. For instance, make star, then fill baked
cookie center with red jelly. Decorate these cookies with cinnamon hearts,
mini chocolate morsels, color sugar, little silver balls, or frosting from
a tube. Bake them, same as others. Do not brown.

Cookie Cutter Cookies: Chill dough. Roll out onto lightly floured board to
thickness of 1/2 inch. Cut with cookie cutters and bake as mentioned above.
Decorate your own way.

Plain Old Drop Cookies: Just drop unchilled dough by teaspoonful onto
ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Don’t brown.
Remove from pans immediately.