These butter-soaked shortbread cookies look like churros but taste more like snickerdoodles! They keep well in a sealed container. The recipe makes a small batch, so double it if you're feeding a crowd.
3/4cupcaster sugaror superfine sugar, or regular white sugar
1/4tspsalt
1cupunsalted butter2 sticks, room temperature
2Tbcream cheeseroom temperature
2tspvanilla extract
Topping
2Tbunsalted buttermelted
1/4cupwhite sugar
3Tbcinnamon
Instructions
Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Beat the butter into the dry mix until it looks crumbly. Toss in the cream cheese and vanilla and blend. The dough should form a large cohesive clump. (If you live in a dry locale, add a teeny bit of water, if need be, so it comes together.)
Lightly flour a surface. Roll out the dough as evenly as you can. Use a pizza slicer to cut the dough into cookie-sized rectangles. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and set the cookies on it; if you stack them, put wax paper between the layers, or they will stick. Stash the cookies in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will keep them from spreading in weird ways when they bake.
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. In a microwave-safe saucer or bowl, melt the two tablespoons of butter. In another bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping.
Bring out the cookies and transfer them to a new cookie sheet. They shouldn't spread much so they don't need a lot of space between them. Use a chopstick or something similar to gently form ridges in the tops of the cookies; the chilled dough might crack, but just mush it together again if that happens. Use a pastry brush to apply the melted butter and then sprinkle on the topping as evenly as you can.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately use your chosen tool to gently indent the tops of the cookies again. Let them cool another ten minutes and then transfer to a rack.