Lemon Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

Ashley L. Ezell was one of seven participants who submitted entries for the Centennial cookie contest in Upland. I was reading the monthly newsletter and came across the article and recipe. Her cookie recipe won and it was Lemon Rosemary Sables. These sounded interesting enough to attempt. Boy am I glad I did. These are so delicious!
Ingredients:
1 cup sweet cream salted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ tbsp. lemon zest (1-3 lemons, depending on the size)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced finely
1 tsp. salt
Sugar in the raw, or pure cane sugar, for rolling
1 egg lightly beaten, for egg wash
Directions:
Zest lemon with zester. Mince rosemary and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in lemon zest, vanilla, egg yolk and mix until well blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and rosemary. With the mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix with electric mixer on low until just combined; finish mixing with spatula or wooden spoon so you do not overwork the dough.
Divide the dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator, roll into 2 one-inch logs, baste with 1 beaten egg, and coat in pure cane sugar. Seal tightly with plastic wrap and place on cookie sheet to hold shape, freeze for 1 hour.
When you are ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Take one log out of the freezer or both, depending on how many cookies you want to bake. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice dough into ¼-inch slices or you can use cookie cutters such as little heart shapes like I used. Place 1 inch apart and bake until lightly golden on edge. Approximately 10-12 minutes (cookies will be very light in color. Do not over-bake; they should not be brown).
These taste delicious with a hot cup of tea or coffee in the morning!
Inspired by: Ashley L. Ezell