​'Tis the season for soft, buttery, cake-like cookies! We love these little puffs of deliciousness. Especially with a tangy frosting made with butter AND cream cheese. For such a little cookie, they have so much flavor! We know you'll love them too!


Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
¾ cup white sugar 
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1 tsp almond extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt 
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp heavy cream 
Sprinkles of choice 
 
Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, softened 
¼ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed 
1 tsp vanilla 
¼ tsp kosher salt 
 
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
 
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. 
Add egg, vanilla bean paste (or extract), and almond extract mixing on medium speed until incorporated, and scraping sides as needed. Slowly add flour, salt, and baking powder, and mix on low just until combined. Stir in heavy cream. 
 
Using a small cookie scoop or 1 Tbsp roll dough into balls. Using two fingers, gently press down on the rounded part on the top of the cookie to slightly flatten. You don't want to flatten the whole cookie, just the top so you have a flat surface to frost once they are done.

Place on baking tray and bake 8-10 minutes on upper rack in oven, or until just cooked through. 
 
For the frosting cream together cream cheese and butter. Slowly add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until all incorporated. Mix in salt and vanilla until combined. Check consistency of buttercream, and add additional powdered sugar if needed. 
 
Spread on cookies and top with sprinkles of choice.  Enjoy!

This is our all-time favorite cookie recipe! Nat has been making these for Annie and her clients for years, and they couldn't be any simpler. The two secrets are using salted butter and vanilla bean paste. You can certainly substitute vanilla extract, but the paste takes these cookies to the next level. You can find vanilla bean paste online or select grocery stores.
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INGREDIENTS:
​¾ lb good quality salted butter, room temp 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
 
INSTRUCTIONS:
In the bowl of your electric mixer cream together butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla bean paste and mix until combined. Slowly add flour with the mixer on low and mix until the dough begins to come together. 
 
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a round disk. Roll the dough 1/3 inch thick, adding more flour as needed. Using a cooking cutter, cut desired shapes with your dough and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Place cookies in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking.
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
 
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are just slightly golden brown. Depending on the size of your cookies the cooking time will vary.  
 
Allow to cool on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with melted chocolate or use for a killer s'mores!