Chocolate Bit Butter Cookies

These cookies are a perfect retreat from the day to day: tasty, buttery and light, they encourage you to slow down and have a snack. Adapted from 101 Cookbooks. Instead of rolling these into a log and cutting, also try chilling them in discs, rolling them out and cutting them into shapes. Just make sure they're still 1/4 inch thick.

Chocolate Bit Butter Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped to be just smaller than chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk the all-purpose and whole wheat flours together in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, with the back of a large spoon or with an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar and salt for about 1 minute, until smooth and creamy but not fluffy. Mix in the chocolate bits and vanilla. Add the flours and mix just until incorporated. Scrape the dough into a mass and, if necessary, knead it with your hands a few times, just until smooth.

Form the dough into a 12 by 2 inch log. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or, preferably overnight.

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use a sharp knife to cut the cold dough log into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place the cookies at least 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are just beginning to color at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking. Cool the cookies in the pans on a rack, or slide the parchment liners carefully onto the rack to free up the pans. Let cool completely. The cookies are delicious fresh but even better the next day. They can be stored in an airtight container forever.

Makes forty-eight 2 1/2-inch cookies.