Basic vanilla butter cookies

MAKES 15 PREP + COOK TIME 40 MINUTES (+ FREEZING, STANDING & COOLING)

125g butter, softened

½ cup (110g) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg yolk

1¼ cups (185g) plain flour

2 tablespoon caster sugar, extra

1 Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk until combined. Sift flour, in two batches, into butter mixture; mix well.

2 Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Using your hands, shape dough into a 25cm long log. Place extra caster sugar on a plate; roll log in the sugar. Wrap log in baking paper. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

3 Remove the log from the freezer. Stand for 10 minutes. Slice into 15 x 1.5cm thick rounds.

4 Preheat a 7-litre air fryer to 160°C for 5 minutes.

5 Taking care, line air fryer basket with baking paper. Place half the cookies, 2cm apart, in basket (place remaining cookies in fridge until needed); at 160°C, cook for 12 minutes until golden. Remove basket from pan. Cool cookies in basket for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat cooking with remaining cookies.

6 Dust cookies with icing sugar. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Raw and baked cookies suitable to freeze.

Spiced maple

Add 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice into Basic Vanilla Butter Cookies recipe when adding the flour in step 1. Continue with the recipe from step 2. To make maple icing, combine ¾ cup sifted icing sugar, 1½ tablespoons maple syrup and 3 teaspoons water; beat with a wooden spoon until icing is smooth and a pouring consistency. Drizzle icing on top of cooled cookies.

Lemon & cranberry

Add 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind and ½ cup (65g) dried cranberries into Basic Vanilla Butter Cookies recipe just before adding the flour in step 1. Continue with the recipe from step 2.

Orange & pecan

Add 1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind and ½ cup chopped toasted pecans into 1 quantity Basic Vanilla Butter Cookies recipe just before adding the flour in step 1. Continue with the recipe from step 2.

Triple-choc

Add ⅓ cup (80ml) each of milk, dark and white chocolate chips into Basic Vanilla Butter Cookies recipe just before adding the flour in step 1. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Flatten balls until 1cm thick. Freeze for 20 minutes. Bake as recipe directs in steps 4 and 5.

TIP: You could also use 180g hand-chopped chocolate of a single type, if preferred.