Norwegian Butter Cookies

Once in awhile, someone finds a recipe, thinks it sounds delicious, and hands it to me. Talk about dropping hints. This one though, my grandmother handed me, so I can't really ignore it. Not because it was HER recipe, she doesn't cook, but she had gotten it off of the back of a bag of C&H sugar and decided it sounded good. And she doesn't cook. Who does? Oh, that's right. Her granddaughter. *sigh* She really had to twist my arm on this one. I mean, 3/4 of a pound of butter, sugar and flour? Yeah, that's essentially it. Yep. I don't make things that involve butter, do I? Just kidding. I was ecstatic when I saw these. Especially considering that in my family, Norwegian stuff is a big thing, considering we're Norwegian and all. Norwegian AND lots of butter.. Yep. Sounds good to me! 


So, to make these, the recipe says to use a cookie press or a pastry bag with a large star tip. Neither of which I have. Who's the queen of improvisational baking? ME! That being said, not all of my ideas are 100% genius, some are only 100% genius in thought.. For instance, if you want to roll these in powdered sugar before baking because you have nothing to sift powdered sugar over the top, make sure that you grease the baking sheet before baking. The powdered sugar WILL essentially glue the cookies to the baking sheet. Now. Onto the successes of this recipe!

Yes. They look plain, and they ARE kind of plain, but really, what's better than BUTTER AND SUGAR?! It's the Norwegian way to be simple. And it works! 


Ingredients:


3/4 lb butter (3 sticks)
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)


Directions:


Preheat oven to 375º.


Cream butter in a bowl. If you find a hand mixer in a cupboard that you forgot you had, make sure it has a "low" setting before you attempt this. Because I didn't. These are probably the messiest cookies I have EVER made. Mostly because of my own lack of thinking. Don't be like me. Anyways, add in the sugar and combine. Add the eggs (beat them slightly before adding, it really will make things easier). 


The recipe says to mix the flour, cinnamon and salt in another bowl and add in batches. Or you can do like me and add it on top of the wet ingredients and mix with your fingers. Mix well. Add the vanilla. I'm sure you could probably add the vanilla before the flour, but I hadn't thought about that, and the recipe DOES say after the flour. 


This is where a cookie press or pastry bag with a large star tip comes in handy. If you have one. Which I don't. If you do have one of those things, by all means, pipe them onto the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. If not, roll them into a ball and flatten slightly. 


Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges start to turn golden brown. Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, or just leave plain!




These cookies are wonderfully chewy and simple. And buttery! When I opened up the oven, the only thing I could smell was BUTTER. Paula, you'd love these. 

These will need to be stored in an airtight container, unlike some other cookies. Now I will leave you to stare at the complexities of the above photo of Paula Deen. The cookies are so simple, I HAD to put a complex picture in here. I accept no responsibility for nightmares that the above picture will cause.