Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut waxed paper to fit the bottom of a round cake layer pan
Mix flour and sugar and salt using Kitchen Aid
Cut in cold butter
Add vanilla
Mix until the consistency of a dry crumb. (If your butter is warm, the consistency will be much softer. That won't effect the final baked shortbread.)
Place waxed paper round into round cake layer pan.
Move mixture into the round cake layer pan.
Press the dough down hard into the pan until you have a smooth, packed dough.
Run a knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the dough from the side of the pan.
Turn the round pan upside down on a baking sheet and remove the round dough form from the pan.
Remove the waxed paper from the round dough form.
Place the baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, remove baking sheet from the oven.
Reduce the oven heat to 290 degrees!!
Using a long knife and a skewer, score the dough - cut half way through the dough, making 16 wedge-shaped pieces. Using the skewer, to each wedge make holes in the dough.
Return the baking sheet to the oven for an additional 40 minutes
Remove shortbread from oven.
Sprinkle sugar generously over the hot shortbread.
Cut the 16 pieces along the score lines.
Place individual pieces aside to cool.
Note:
I bake 2 shortbread recipes at a time.
I have added 1/2 bag chocolate chips or 1/2 bag of butterscotch morsels to the dough after I get the dough to that dry crumb consistency. This will make the dough spread out a little more during the baking process.
