First, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. In my opinion, the best way to cream together butter and sugar by hand is to, well, use your hands. The ol’ butter fingers.

Next, stir in the egg and vanilla extract. I used clear vanilla extract just to keep my cookies looking as white as possible, but any vanilla extract will yield the same (tasting) result.

Now stir in the flour and salt until a soft dough ball forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll until the dough is about 1/4 inch (or slightly less) thick. Cut out the cookies. I used a pizza cutter and did squares. You could use circular cookie cutters if you prefer. Press the shell into the dough, leaving an indention.

Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, remove the cookies and re-press the shell into the still soft dough. Return to oven to finish baking. Cool on a baking rack before serving.