Best Sugar Cookies + Tooth and Nail Craft Fair

I am seriously relieved to learn that sugar cookies go really well with beer.  All this time I spent bemoaning (and well, celebrating too) the cold and the winter, and suddenly spring is here and it's warm as hell, and I didn't think I'd ever want to put anything sweet in my mouth ever again.  Okay yeah, the future tastes like summery pies and the Californian in me is practically throwing a tantrum for stone fruit tarts, but sweet sweets have been another story.  Then I came across this recipe that yields the most perfectly shortbready sugar cookie of all time, and while I sprinkled pepper on some, herbs on others, and topped a few with ground coffee, all variations went equally well with my spring beer of choice, which is most excellent because I can't imagine a day without a baked good or a spring day without a beer.

Well, and part of the reason I was feeling anti-supersweet is because I've been occupied with testing recipes over and over again for the past three weeks as preparation for selling baked goods at a craft fair. Hooray! DC's Bored of Trade arts collective threw the Tooth and Nail Craft Fair at the Velvet Lounge on Saturday, and it brought together all kinds of vendors, from Treasury Vintage and Smash Records to a DC comics collective and the makers of instruments crafted from salvaged wood and toys.  Cookies out of a suitcase and tartlets out of a library card catalogue, and the super supportive crowd still ate up all 107 of my baked goods.  It was an honor and a pleasure, and next time there will be sugar cookies too.

Lindsay Shere's Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated white sugar, plus a little extra for rolling

1 extra-large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh rosemary, cracked black pepper, finely ground coffee, or other toppings of your choice

1.  In a large bowl, cream the butter at high speed, about one minute.  Add the sugar and beat three to four minutes longer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

2.  Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat a few more minutes, until light and fluffy again.  Slowly add the flour and salt, and mix at a low speed until the dough (thick by this point) comes together.  Shape the dough into two logs about 11/2 inches in diameter, roll the logs in sugar, then wrap each in plastic and refrigerate until firm.

3.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the dough is firm, slice it into quarter-inch-thick rounds, place them on the baking tray with about an inch of space between them, and besprinkle each with the topping of your choice.  Bake for ten to 12 minutes, until they're lightly browned on the bottom.  Let sit on the tray for one to two minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.  Enjoy!