Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

• 2 3/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup almond meal
• 11/16 cup brown sugar
• salt
• 1 vanilla bean half pod lengthwise and scrape out seeds
• 7/8 cup butter soft, cut into small pieces
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons water or grenadine syrup

1. Mix all the "dry" ingredients in a medium-sized bowl (flour, almond meal, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and vanilla seeds).
2. Make a well and pour in the egg yolks and the butter.
3. Mix the dough with your fingertips and knead until obtaining a ball.
4. If you have a food processor, place all the ingredients into the bowl with the hook at once and run on medium until the dough forms a ball and comes away clean from the sides.
5. Wrap the ball in a cling film and put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Take out the dough ball and take one third of it (it will be easier to manage).
9. On a floured surface, thinly roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
10. Using cookie cutters, cut out cookies.
11. If you want to use the cookies as Christmas tree ornaments, remember to poke a small hole at the top (using a straw for example), so that you can hang the cookies on the tree.
12. Bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes.
13. Let them cool completely before decorating.
14. In the pastry aisle of your grocery store, you can find special pencils to decorate the cookies. If you prefer, use powdered sugar for the icing: mix 200 grams of powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of water (to color the icing, use food coloring or replace the water with grenadine syrup).

flour, almond meal, brown sugar, salt, vanilla bean, butter, egg yolks, powdered sugar, water

Taken from www.yummly.com/recipe/Vanilla-Shortbread-Cookies-898629 (may not work)