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1
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
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2
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
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3
In a mixing bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy.
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4
Add the powdered sugar and beat again, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl once or twice as you are mixing.
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5
Beat in the vanilla extract.
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6
If you have a vanilla bean slit it open along its entire length, scrape out the vanilla bean paste from the interior of the bean, and add this to the mixer as well.
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7
Add the flour mixture in two additions.
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8
Stir until everything comes together into a thick dough.
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9
Turn the dough out onto a countertop and divide into two pieces, there is quite a bit of dough, so cutting it into two pieces just makes it easier to roll out later on.
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10
Press each piece of dough out into a flat patty an inch thick.
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11
Wrap each piece in plastic and chill completely in the refrigerator - about thirty minutes.
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12
When the dough is chilled, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out 1/4-1/2-inch thick.
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13
Cut the dough into desired shapes using cookie cutters or a knife and place on a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet.
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14
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are barely golden.
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15
Makes 3 or 4 dozen tiny cookies - more or less depending on the size of your cutters.
