• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream the butter until smooth, then add the sugar. Beat for about 2 more minutes, until the graininess of the sugar is smooth. Beat in vanilla extract. Add flour and salt until just incorporated.

Here’s where things get fun. Once the dough comes together, add some mix-ins to customize your shortbread. Here are some ideas to get you started, all of which inexplicably begin with the letters C or L, but the possibilities go on and on. You can flavor one whole batch the same way, or break it up into smaller batches of dough so that one shortbread recipe yields several different flavor combinations. The great thing about shortbread is that you can sample the raw dough to make sure you have the right amount of added spices, since there are no raw eggs.

• Cardamom and pistachio: Add cardamom a little at a time, tasting as you go to get the right potency.
• Cinnamon and almond: Mix the cinnamon almonds into the dough, but I also sprinkle the top of the cookies with slivers of almond and the smallest pinch of cinnamon and kosher salt. The saltiness might seem strange in theory, but the results are indisputably awesome.
• Lavender: Make sure to use culinary-grade dried lavender. A little goes a long way!
• Lemon: Grate some lemon zest and add to the dough. I also have a lemon-shaped cookie cutter I use for these. Adorable!
• Lúcuma: Lúcuma is a fruit native to Peru and now grows widely in Chile. It has a sweet flavor reminiscent of maple, vanilla, or even caramel. Powdered lúcuma, which you can buy online, is also a great flavoring for ice cream, cheesecakes, and other sweet treats.

Once your dough is customized, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 325. When dough is chilled, roll to desired thickness and cut out with cookie cutters. This can be a lot of work if you just want regular round cookies, so I usually either chill it in a log shape and slice, or simply form into balls and then flatten onto the cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes or so, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden brown.