Annie Hall's Butter Cookies

2 cups butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
4 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350˚.

2. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix well. Sift flour and salt together and beat this into butter mixture until well mixed. Chill dough. Roll out onto lightly floured board to thickness of ¼”. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheet 1” apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, but do not brown them. Remove cookies from cookie sheet while still warm and cool on rack. Decorate when cooled.

6-8 dozen

from Christmas from the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch (out of print)