Just posting this recipe here so that it can be found a little more readily. A tip of the virtual hat to the source on Tumblr, @locusimperium.
The ones in the above image were baked in an all-crunchy-edges brownie pan, but these bake perfectly satisfactorily in the recommended 9×12 inch sheet pan. They’re just fine plain, though the addition of a little ground cinnamon and cloves works well too.
Norwegian Christmas Butter Squares
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp salt
- Turbinado / raw sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chill a 9×13″ baking pan in the freezer. Do not grease the pan.
Using a mixer, blend the butter, egg, sugar, and salt together until it is creamy. Â Add the flour and vanilla and mix using your hands until the mixture holds together in large clumps. If it seems overly soft, add a little extra flour.
Using your hands, press the dough out onto the chilled and ungreased baking sheet until it is even and ¼ inch thick.  Dust the top of the cookies evenly with raw sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees until the edges turn a golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for about five minutes before cutting the cooked dough into squares. Remove the squares from the warm pan using a spatula.
These tend not to hang around long, but if you think they might survive in your local environment for more than a couple of days, keep them in a cookie tin.
