Vanilla and Thyme Slice and Bake Cookies (Freezer Ready)

Once upon a time, I roasted some sweet potatoes with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. If you’ve never done this, I’m seriously not sure if we can stay friends. The mixture of sweet and savory is totally the bee’s knees, and one of my goals in cooking is to marry these flavors in pretty much every dish, be it an entree or a dessert.

I decided to bake some cookies the other night, and I really wanted to add a little pizzazz to a basic sugar cookie recipe. I usually go for just a little extra vanilla or sometimes I add cinnamon, but I had some fresh thyme on hand so I was all like, why not? Let’s make a sweet cookie with the unmistakable, deliciously aromatic, herbal flavor of thyme. I winged it the first go around and I think I got a little bit carried away with the thyme on the first batch. Anyway, after my first failed attempt, I found a recipe that was simply perfect. You guys, these are pretty delicious and are dreamy with a piping hot cup of coffee or tea. You must try this!

Glazed Vanilla and Thyme Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt

For the Glaze (optional)

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

• cream together the butter, sugar, and the seeds from the vanilla bean
• add the thyme and egg and whisk together until well incorporated
• stir in the flour and salt until a dough ball forms
• Roll the dough into long cylinder, cover in plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 2 hours or overnight
• remove from the freezer and allow to sit out for a few minutes while your oven preheats
• slice into 1/4 inch or slightly thicker rounds and place on a baking sheet lined with  parchment paper
• Bake at 325°F for 12-15 minutes
• Remove from the oven and place the cookies on a cooling rack

For the glaze:

• whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth
• Dip the cooled cookies into the glaze, then place back on the cooling rack to allow excess glaze to drip off
• decorate the tops with a few thyme leaves

***the cookie dough will last in the freezer a month or two

***if thyme isn’t your thing, try rosemary!

Source:  A Beautiful Mess