Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies

I have made cookies of all kinds over the years.  A while back I came across a recipe that knocked my socks off when I tried them.  They were super easy and one of the best cookies... I don't know that one cookie holds the best title, but this one is right up there near the top of my list. There are only 7 ingredients and the longest part is letting them chill so you can slice them into the perfect little cookies that they become.

When I decide I am going to make these, I take 2 sticks of butter out to set on my counter to come to room temperature, then go about whatever I was doing.  When it is time to start the cookies I put the butter in a mixing bowl and add 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of white sugar.  I blend the butter and sugars till they are nice and creamy, then I add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 egg... again blend till smooth.  Next I fold in 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans.  

Once the flour and pecans are blended the batter is ready to be divided in half and wrapped into 8" logs.

The two logs are then placed on a plate and into the fridge for about 2 hours to chill.

When the two hours is up preheat the oven to 350º then take them out of fridge and unwrap... slice into 1/4" to 1/2" slices.

These should fit nicely on two parchment lined cookie sheets. The original recipe said to bake them for 13 to 14 minutes.  First batch I made I decided to cut that back to 11 minutes and that works perfectly for me every time.  

I remove them from the cookie sheets immediately and let them cool on a wire rack.

These are so easy and so good, I guess the reason I don't make them too often is because I could sit down and eat a whole plate of them, and that would not be a good habit to get into