In one of the top pictures you're mixing butter and sugar without having first melted or visibly softened the butter. I've never heard of doing this and I'm curious. Is it something special for these cookies? How does it work? Steph, I often use butter straight from the fridge, ice cold and rock hard; I seldom` remember to take it out ahead of time. It's a bit hard on your beaters (if you don't have a powerful mixer), but I've never noticed that it makes any difference in the finished cookies... PJH

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