Vanilla Butter Cookies

These are also known as Brysselkex in the Scandinavian countries, sablès in some parts of Europe, and Dutch biscuits in others. It reminds me of the Swedish saying “kaärt barn har många namn,” which means “a loved child has many names.” Many varieties of cookies can be made from this one basic dough; the most common are vanilla, marble, and checkerboard. Like most cookies that are divided into pieces from ropes, these can be refrigerated or frozen, well wrapped, then sl